Pokemon Ranger - Almia Shadows
by LadyCharizard
Summary: Retired Pokémon Trainer Alexa enrolls in Almia's Ranger School to become a Pokémon Ranger and meet new friends. With her own Lucario, Ryder, she takes on any challenges in her stride, despite the obstacles in her way. Read along to experience her journey to become the best Rank 10 Top Ranger she can possibly be! Status: Finished. June 28th 2009 - November 19th 2011 Alexa (c) Me.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: It Begins! Enter Alexa!**

_As a Pokémon trainer, I have travelled through the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. As the Sinnoh League came to a close, so did my journey. Or so I thought. My name is Alexa, Alex for short, and I am about to embark on another one of life's journeys. However, I had no idea that this one would change my life…forever…_

"Capture on!"

**FWING!**

A small grey spinning top flew across the air and started to surround the unsuspecting Pikachu with a white line of sorts. Controlling the direction of the spinning top was a strange-looking green handheld control with an abnormally long antennae, which was in the hands of a young adult girl wearing a strange uniform of some kind; the uniform consisted of a green pseudo-cardigan, a navy blue shirt, a yellow tie, fingerless gloves, shorts (both the gloves and the shorts share the same shade of blue as the girl's shirt) and brown boots, almost as tall as her knees. Whilst her right hand grasped the strange device, controlling the spinning top, she used her left hand to flick her golden blonde hair away from her shiny fuchsia eyes. Her pale lips appeared to be neutral, but, upon closer inspection, one could detect a faint smirk.

"Hiiiii-YAH!"

The girl spun her device in a clockwise circle – thus allowing the antennae to do so as well – to form a white ring. The ring circled around the Pikachu and shrunk around it. The ring soon completely disappeared, causing the Pikachu to briefly shine in the late ring's white light.

"Capture complete!"

"Congratulations, you've passed the entrance exam with flying colours!" an official praised. The student girl relaxed and lightly exhaled.  
"Thank you," she answered. Her voice was soft and gentle, yet mature, with a hint of a proper British accent. "I'm finding myself rather overwhelmed at the moment."  
"That's not surprising," laughed a woman's voice. A brunette woman dressed in a green coloured blouse with a white skirt covering her knees approached the new student. "Congratulations. As of now, you are my newest student. Welcome to the Ranger School."  
"Thank you very much, Ms April," the girl modestly thanked. "I will do my very best during my time here."  
"Since you're already a powerful Pokémon trainer," the male official began. "Trying your very best is a given, right?"  
"Yes, sir, Mr Kaplan," the student sniggered.  
"Now, if you will follow me, I will show you to your class," Ms April said, starting to leave the room. The student girl followed on and kept up with the teacher nicely.  
"Enjoy your school life!" Mr Kaplan shouted.

_A little while later…_

Ms April entered a spacious classroom. There were six desks, all lined up horizontally. There were five students occupying these desks, with the boys and the girls on opposite sides. To the west side were three girls; one is a black-haired girl who appeared to be somewhat quiet, the second is a brunette girl who was talking to the rather giggly blonde haired girl. To the east side were two boys; one was a plain red-head boy, who appeared to be talking to a crimson haired boy, whose hairstyle was somewhat striking; it was rather spiked with four strands of hair dropping down in front of the forehead, two on either side of his head. Ms April faced the other students with her back against the green blackboard.  
"Sorry to keep you all waiting, class. Today, we have a new student with us," she declared.  
"A new student? I wonder what they're like," the brunette boy asked. The crimson haired boy squinted at him.  
"Why are you asking me?"  
"Is it a boy? Or is it a girl?" the black haired girl asked.  
"Is the student cute? Cool, maybe?" the brunette girl asked. She then gasped with excitement. "Maybe they're like a celebrity!"  
"That would be so cool!" the blonde girl squealed.  
"Alright, settle down, everyone," Ms April interrupted. "You can all see the new student for yourselves. Come on in!" she shouted.  
The other five students looked back as the class door opened. The new student casually walked into the room.  
"Gosh, isn't she even slightly nervous?" the blonde haired girl whispered to her neighbour.  
"I've faced larger crowds," the new student replied as she walked passed the whispering girl. The abrupt answer startled the girl. Her neighbour sniggered. The new student stood next to Ms April.  
"Our new friend came to our humble Almia region to become a Pokémon Ranger," Ms April began. "Why don't you introduce yourself to your fellow students?" she asked the new girl.  
"With pleasure," she complied. The faced the rest of the class; the expression on her face hadn't changed since she completed her Pikachu capture. "My name is Alexa, but most people just call me Alex for short. It's very nice to meet you all."  
"My, what courtesy," the crimson haired boy sniggered. Ms April got frustrated, but Alexa took a casual approach.  
"Perhaps you could learn a thing or two from it," she teased sarcastically. The girls sniggered while the crimson haired boy was left speechless; he hadn't expected such a comeback.  
"Um, Alexa? C-can I ask you something please?" the blonde haired girl asked nervously. Alexa faced her.  
"You technically have done already, but go ahead," she permitted. The brunette haired boy hid his laughter.  
"Um, you said you've faced larger crowds not too long ago," the blonde girl continued. "W-what did you mean by that?" she asked. Alexa folded her arms and raised her head up slightly, as if in thought.  
"A crowd of five? That's nothing. A crowd of thousands? That's something," she replied.  
"No way! You've never faced a crowd of thousands!" the crimson haired boy said in disbelief.  
"Keith, can you not interrupt?" Ms April asked sternly. Alexa faced the boy Ms April addressed as Keith.  
"I don't suppose you've ever partaken in an official Pokémon League yourself then?" Alexa asked.  
"Of course not, I'm not a Pokémon trainer," Keith answered. Alexa smiled, which confused the boy.  
"Can you put two and two together?" she asked. "If you can, then the right answer should be as follows; I myself am a Pokémon trainer."  
"Really?" Keith asked in astonishment.  
"Indeed. I would talk about my experiences, but I wouldn't want to digress. Not at this point in time anyway. Isn't that right, Ms April?" Alexa asked towards her teacher.  
"Huh? Um, y-yes, that's right. Um, you can have a seat now, Alexa," Ms April said, somewhat tensely. "Is it alright for you to sit next to Keith?"  
"Perfectly," Alexa replied, making her way to the empty seat. "Personally, I think he's fun to talk to," she added, finally taking her seat next to Keith. Unbeknownst to Alexa, Keith was looking at her with shock.  
"Okay, class, it is now time to treat you all like students, people a teacher can take pride in."  
"As can the principal," Alexa whispered quietly to herself, with a small grin on her face.  
"And let's not fail at achieving your dreams of becoming Rangers, Operators and Mechanics," Ms April added.  
"YEAH!" the class rejoiced.  
"Be the best you can be!" Alexa shouted happily.  
"That's the spirit, Alexa! Alright, I will change the class specifically for today; this will be a free-study class." Ms April faced the blonde haired girl. "Rhythmi, can you take Alexa for a tour of the school please?"  
"Oh! Yes, definitely!" Rhythmi complied with excitement.  
"Thank you. I'll be in the staff room, so I shall leave you to it." Ms April then made her way out of the room. Once she left the room, everyone left their seats and they gathered around Alexa.

"Wow, you're a real life Pokémon trainer?" the brunette girl asked. "This is so exciting!"  
"It's nothing really; I come from a family of Pokémon trainers," Alex answered casually.  
"So cool!" the brunette boy exclaimed.  
"Um, Alexa? No offence, but you look awfully familiar," the black haired girl began. "I know we haven't met, but that's the feeling I get…"  
"I get that a fair bit," Alexa shrugged.  
"You know something, Alexa? You're weird," Keith commented. Alexa squinted at him.  
"And you're fun," she countered.  
"Oh, Keith's just a show off, you're better off ignoring him," Rhythmi sighed.  
"Aw, ignore Keith? That's not very nice," Alexa teased. "Especially when he made my day more interesting."  
"Uh…!" Keith was lost for words; Alexa was not someone to be underestimated.  
"Anyway, I should take you for the tour now, Alexa," Rhythmi advised, changing the subject.  
"Guys, please, enough of this Alexa stuff!" Alexa laughed. "Just call me Alex! Huh; I wonder how many times I'll say that. Anyway, where do you want the tour to start?"  
"Oh, well, um…you've already met our teacher, Ms April…and there's the class next door; Mr Kincaid teaches there. He's very uptight and strict. 'No running in the hallways' must be his pet saying or something."  
"Then that makes running in the hallways his pet peeve," Alexa said sarcastically. Keith laughed.  
"Something like that!" he replied.  
"Okay, Alexa, let's explore the rest of the school building!" Rhythmi said with enthusiasm.  
"Okie dokie. I'm interested to see what this school has to offer," Alexa agreed. She and Rhythmi exited the classroom.  
"So, Keith, what do you think of the new girl?" the brunette boy asked. "I think she's funny."  
"W-well…um…I haven't met anyone like her, so I don't know what to think," Keith admitted.  
"She's the first to leave you speechless, huh?" the black haired girl asked playfully.  
"I think she's amazing!" the brunette girl exclaimed.

"So, Rhythmi, this leads to Mr Kincaid's class?" Alexa asked, standing outside a different door.  
"Yep, that's right," Rhythmi confirmed. "Let's go in!"  
"Wait, are you sure we should? I don't fancy disturbing him," Alexa advised.  
"I do," Rhythmi said simply, opening the door. She and Alexa entered the room and found five students along with Mr Kincaid; the teacher was dressed in a yellow shirt with a red body warmer and black trousers. He also had long blonde hair styled in a single curve facing the right hand side (from Kincaid's perspective).  
"Sorry to disturb you, Mr Kincaid, I'm taking our new classmate a tour of the school," Rhythmi explained.  
"So I see," Mr Kincaid commented. "And is the new student enjoying her time here?"  
"W-well, I've only been here for a couple of hours, but so far so good, yes, sir," Alexa answered.  
"I admire your modesty," Mr Kincaid complimented.  
"Thank you, sir." Alexa took a hold of Rhythmi's wrist. "Come on, Rhythmi, let's not waste any more of his time." She then took Rhythmi out of the room.

"Alex, what's the matter?" Rhythmi asked.  
"Honestly? I do not like that man," Alexa admitted. "For some reason, I've got this feeling that I shouldn't trust the guy."  
"Really? I know he's uptight and strict and everything, but why do you think you shouldn't trust him?" Rhythmi asked.  
"I don't know…I just have a certain vibe around him," Alexa answered. 'An all too familiar vibe at that,' she thought to herself.  
"Anyway, shall we tour some more?" Rhythmi asked.  
"Well I won't let a hunch stop me from familiarising myself with my new environment," Alexa replied.  
"Okay, next we'll look at the library!" Rhythmi stated.  
"Maybe some other time; I know what a library is," Alexa sighed. "And the staff room. And the dorm rooms. What's the basement?"  
"Off limits, for one thing," Rhythmi began. "Mr Kincaid's lab is down there, but we're not allowed down there without permission."  
"Why would a teacher have a lab? I could understand it if Mr Kincaid was a science teacher, but, come on; this is Ranger School. What could Mr Kincaid possibly do with a laboratory?" Alexa asked; her tone of voice clearly revealed suspicion about the basic fact she asked about.  
"I don't know, I've never been down there," Rhythmi answered plainly. "Anyway, let's go outside now." Rhythmi and Alexa then left the school building.

Outside, the two girls were en route to the large shed that stood over on the right hand side of the courtyard.  
"So, Alex, do you know about Pokémon captures and target clears?" Rhythmi asked. "Because Mr Kaplan and-"  
"No, Rhythmi, I know everything I need to know about the captures," Alexa declined abruptly. "And I know the mechanics behind target clear; I did a study session on my way here, so it's all good, really."  
"Aaaagh!" a feminine scream interrupted the conversation. A lady dressed in brown was surrounded by a pack of nine Bidoof. The Bidoof then scattered across the schoolyard.  
"Janice needs help with those Bidoof!" she exclaimed. "You have to catch them all!"  
"Hey, Alex, why don't we turn this into a race?" Keith asked, having exited the school building in time to witness the dilemma. "Whoever can capture the most Bidoof is the winner! Ready, set, go!" he raced into action with his weird remote.  
"Oh, that Keith…! Alex, please, use your styler to capture the Bidoof!" Rhythmi pleaded.  
"I'm on it," Alexa sighed, readying her own styler. She raced across the schoolyard.

_A little while later…_

Alexa and Keith successfully captured all nine Bidoof. Keith caught five, and Alex caught four.  
"Okay, that's all of them. I caught five, which means Alex caught…" Keith trailed off to count Alexa's caught Bidoof. "Four. I win!" he exclaimed. Unbeknownst to Keith, Rhythmi and Janice, Alexa walked away.  
"Thank you so much for bringing them all together for me," Janice thanked. "Now I must set things right with the Bidoof. See you later on." She and the Bidoof then left.  
"Alright, I'm glad we got that sorted out! Right, Alexa?" Keith asked. He and Rhythmi found that Alexa had left them. She was not too far away, however; she appeared to be on the phone, but she soon put the phone down, meaning that she has just ended a phone call.  
"Sorry about that, guys," Alexa apologised, turning around to face her friends. "My dad wanted to know where he put his favourite cufflinks."  
"I see…anyway, Alex, there's another place I want to show you down at the bottom of the school," Rhythmi added.  
"You mean Ascension Square?" Keith asked. "I'll go with you."  
"Oh, alright then…! Come on, Alex, let's get going; to Ascension Square!" Rhythmi said enthusiastically. She and Keith then raced off in a southeast direction. Alexa sighed, but followed her friends regardless.  
Once she caught up with Keith and Rhythmi, she found a large stone monument in front of her.  
"This is called the Pledge Stone," Rhythmi began. "Principal Lamont says if you make a strong pledge in front of this stone, it'll be sure to come true."  
"Then let's make one then!" Keith exclaimed. "But…what should we make a pledge about?"  
"Why don't we each make our own pledges?" Alexa suggested. "I'm sure it'll be easier for the powers-that-be to make individual pledges come true rather than a group one," she explained playfully.  
"Great idea, Alex!" Rhythmi agreed. "Okay, um…I'll pledge that I'll succeed at being an Operator!"  
"And I'll pledge that I'll be the best Pokémon Ranger I can be!" Keith vowed. "What's your pledge, Alex?"  
"Hmm…" Alexa was in thought, attempting to come up with a good answer to Keith's question. "I think I'll make a pledge I should have made a long time ago," she answered finally.  
"Oh? And what might that be?" Rhythmi asked with curiosity.  
"Actually, pledge isn't the right word," Alexa corrected herself. "I'll call this a promise." She looked over at the large circular statue. "I promise that I will protect my friends if and whenever they're in harm's way. I don't care who it is that tries to do them harm, nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it."  
"Wow. That's deep," Keith said quietly. Alexa held out her right hand in front of her; this action confused Keith and Rhythmi.  
"I think it's a nice touch if we seal the deal, don't you?" she asked. Keith held out his right hand and carefully placed it on top of Alexa's hand.  
"You've got that right!" he agreed. "There's no way I'm forgetting my pledge! Or your promise, Alex." Rhythmi placed her right hand on top of Keith's.  
"Neither will I!" she corroborated. "Our promises all have their own meanings, so they will all come true."  
"Right!" Keith and Alexa concurred in unison. The two then faced each other with confusion, having just realised they spoke in unison. They both blushed with embarrassment.

**DING! DING! DING!**

"Oh, that's the school bell!" Rhythmi exclaimed. "Come on, let's get back to school!" she raced off towards the stairs leading out of the square. Keith and Alexa faced each other again.  
"Alex?"  
"Yeah, Keith?"  
"About that promise you made. Do you really mean it?"  
"Friendship is very dear to me. So, yes, I do."  
"Come on, you two!" Rhythmi cried. "Let's go!" Alexa and Keith retracted their arms quickly and they followed Rhythmi; they were still blushing, but neither one of them noticed.

_That night…_

In a pink decorated room that consisted of several bunk beds, Alexa lay peacefully on her bed on the lower bunk.  
"So, Alex, how're you enjoying this place so far?" Rhythmi asked. Alex turned her head to face Rhythmi.  
"It's a lot different to what I'm used to," she began. "But that doesn't mean I don't like a change of pace. Besides, being a Pokémon League Champion or a Battle Frontier Brain really isn't my idea of a good profession; battling all the time gets kinda…humdrum if you battle too often."  
"Well I'm glad you like this place," Rhythmi stated. "Say, let's sneak out for a bit," she suggested, leaving the room. Alexa sighed as she climbed out of bed.  
"Where the hell did that come from?" she asked herself. When she exited the room, she found Rhythmi, Keith and a few other students gathered around a table. "Okay, can this get any weirder?" she sighed.  
"Okay, everyone's accounted for," Rhythmi began. "It's time for Alex's initiation to welcome her to the school."  
"Keep it down, but yay," the other students rejoiced quietly. Rhythmi's words startled Alexa.  
'Initiation?!' she sighed quietly to herself. 'Well, that answers my first question…'  
"Okay, the rules are simple; four of us have hidden our stylers in four locations around the school," Rhythmi began. "They are Ms April's classroom, Mr Kincaid's classroom, the library and the staff room. Alex, you need to find the stylers and put them outside the door in the basement."  
"Rhythmi, you must be off your rocker if you think I'm going down there at this time of night," Alexa said, sounding fairly annoyed.  
"Don't worry, Alex, the student next to the initiate has to go with you," Rhythmi cheerfully reassured.  
'That wasn't entirely what I meant,' Alexa thought to herself. 'Ah well; no bailing out of this then.'  
"Damn; you mean me," Keith sighed. "Okay, Alex, let's get this over with," he said unenthusiastically. He and Alexa left the dormitory.

When Alexa and Keith got downstairs, they found the ground floor deserted. The two of them looked around carefully.  
"The school's creepy at night…don't you think?" Keith asked. Alexa took a second look around before she shrugged.  
"It's not exactly Lavender Tower, is it? But I have to admit the atmosphere is somewhat ominous in its own way," she replied quietly.  
"What's Lavender Tower?" Keith asked.  
"It's in Lavender Town in Kanto," Alexa started. "It's basically a Pokémon graveyard in tower form."  
"G-g-graveyard!?" Keith stuttered with fright. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, let's get this over with."  
"Okay, we'll start with the one in the library; it's the one closest to me," Alexa suggested as she made her way to her right hand side. Keith followed closely.

_Several minutes later…_

Alexa and Keith exited Mr Kincaid's classroom; Alexa was holding four stylers in her arms.  
"Okay, this initiation thing is just too easy," Alex muttered.  
"I know; where're the Pokémon to make it harder?" Keith pondered.  
"They're diurnal," Alexa answered. "They don't come out at night, in other words."  
"Oh, okay. Let's just take the stylers to the basement and get this over with," Keith said impatiently.  
"The less said about this the better," Alexa agreed. She and Keith made their way down towards the basement.

Down in the dark narrow basement, Alexa and Keith, taking caution in their stride, slowly made their way to the door at the end of the corridor. Alexa placed the four stylers on the ground next to the door rather than in front of it; she wouldn't want them to be damaged should the door be opened.  
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!" a haunting moan broke the silent atmosphere and came close to intimidating Keith.  
"Wh-what was that?!" he asked quietly. His question was soon answered; four Gastly materialised from thin air in front of him and Alexa.  
"Whaaa!" Keith yelled. Alexa readied her styler.  
"Capture on!" she said quietly as she released the spinning top from her styler. The top circled the four ghost Pokémon and with one rotation of the styler, the Gastly were captured. Alexa then released the four Pokémon and they disappeared.  
"Oh, whew…they were just Gastly," Keith sighed with relief. "Nice capture, Alex." The door suddenly opened.  
"WHO'S THERE?!" Mr Kincaid yelled furiously. Alexa and Keith both let off a startled scream upon the angry teacher's entrance. "The basement is off limits to everyone but myself!"  
"Run for it!" Keith took a firm grip on Alexa's wrist and he ran away, pulling Alexa with him.  
"Is everything alright, sir?" asked a young male voice from inside the room. Mr Kincaid squinted back.  
"It's nothing; just a couple of Zubats causing trouble in the hallway," he answered calmly.

Alexa and Keith raced up the stairs and stopped when they arrived at the ground floor. They panted to catch their breath, but soon stopped to face one another. At first, they were somewhat startled. Before too long, they started smiling and attempted to contain their laughter. However, they failed to do so, as they both laughed out loud.

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two - Area Rangers and a Thief!**

Ms April was in her classroom, in front of her six students, including Keith, Alexa and Rhythmi. Ms April was wearing a happy smile on her face.  
"Okay, everyone," she began. "Do you know what day it is today?" she asked.  
"Thursday," Alexa answered playfully. The other students laughed, as did Ms April.  
"Today is out Outdoor Class," Keith answered properly.  
"That's right. We have a proper Pokémon Ranger visiting us," Ms April continued. "So you will all be able to get a good idea of what it's like being a ranger."  
"Because we have a Pokémon Ranger with us to enlighten us with his or her experiences as one, right?" Alexa assumed.  
"Exactly," Ms April confirmed. "Now, if you'll all make your way to the Ascension Square, the Outdoor Class will begin." She then made her way out of the classroom. The students all followed her.

_Outside…_

Ms April and the students arrived at the Ascension Square and gathered around the statue. In front of the statue was a tall man in a traditional Pokémon Ranger uniform. His Afro hairstyle was the most striking feature of this ranger.  
"Alright, everyone is accounted for," Ms April began. "Thank you very much for coming all this way, Crawford."  
"It's a pleasure to be here," the ranger replied happily. "As Ms April has said, my name is Crawford. And this is my partner Pokémon, Budew," he added, as the small green bud Pokémon showed itself in front of the students.  
"Budew!" the little Pokémon squealed. A Cherubi, a Swellow and a Combee also made themselves known.  
"Oh, and these are my friend Pokémon," Crawford added. The three Pokémon went into hiding.  
"Alright, it's time for the climax of this class," Ms April began. "The Q &amp; A session of terror!"  
"Why is it called that?" Alexa whispered, to nobody in particular.  
"I think it's just what Ms April calls it," Keith replied in a whisper.  
"Okay, everyone, you may all ask one question each, but be reasonable," Ms April instructed.  
"I think it's me first then," a male student began. "Why did you choose to become a Pokémon Ranger to begin with?"  
"If the questions are like that, it may as well be called 'The Interrogative Q &amp; A'," Alexa whispered to Keith playfully.  
"Did you have to face these questions as a Pokémon trainer?" Keith asked her quietly.  
"I can't remember. If I did, I must've answered accordingly," Alexa quietly replied.  
"Has anyone asked you about the initiation thing?" Keith asked silently.  
"No, but less said the better," Alexa replied. "Remember when Mr Kincaid showed up?" Keith and Alexa could barely contain their laughter.  
"Yeah, he almost popped a vein," Keith sniggered.  
"Alexa? It's your turn," a girl student said abruptly, nudging Alexa with her elbow. Alexa cleared her throat and faced Crawford.  
"I understand Pokémon Rangers and Operators need to trust one another to get the hypothetical job done," she began. "So my question is this; how do you view the people you work with? You know, do you see them as mere colleagues or are they your friends at the same time?"  
"That's a good question and well elaborated," Crawford began, taking careful consideration about how to answer such a well-structured question. "I take it you have a high opinion on friendship?"  
"Yes I do," Alexa answered.  
"Well, I think you'll like the answer," Crawford began with a smile. "Out of all of the Area Rangers, you won't find a more friendly bunch than us at Vientown," he answered. Alexa smiled. "Hahahaha, I told you so!" Crawford laughed.  
"Okay, it's my turn now," Keith began. "Do you think that I can become a Pokémon Ranger?"  
"Keith, that's why you're here to begin with," Alexa sighed.  
"Are you sure you're not mistaking me for a fortune teller?" Crawford asked. "I hardly know you, but if you try hard enough, you can be what you want to be."  
"My turn!" Rhythmi exclaimed. "Um, I want to be an Operator after I graduate. Do you think that…"  
"Honestly, why must two people mistake a Ranger for a fortune teller?" Alexa whispered to herself.  
"I get the feeling Rhythmi's just copying my question," Keith muttered to Alexa. "It's not that difficult coming up with your own question."  
"My sentiments exactly," Alexa whispered in agreement.  
"I have a question," a female student began. "Do you wear pyjamas at night?"  
"What kind of question is that!?" Alexa asked; she and Keith were somewhat disgusted at the question.  
"Oi, none of that, please," Ms April said calmly.  
"You may as well ask him if Keith has a chance with Alexa," a male student said sarcastically.  
"Hey!" Alexa and Keith protested with frustration.

**RING-RING-RING-RING!**

Crawford's styler received a transmission. Crawford raised his styler in front of him to answer the call.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, it's me, Barlow," said an older male voice from the styler. "We have an emergency situation! A Mantine has washed up on shore after a cargo ship crashed! Luana's on her way to pick you up, we need you on this!"  
"Roger that, leader," Crawford complied as he ended the transmission. Alexa whistled in awe.  
"Mantine are 6'11"," she began. "No wonder why it's an emergency situation."  
"Save that Mantine!" some of the other students cheered.  
"Since everyone will be worried, I'll report in once we're done," Crawford offered.  
"That would be good of you, thank you," Ms April said with gratitude. A ship moored into the small pier outside Ascension Square, and a female ranger with shoulder-length black hair and a Buneary next to her came out on the deck of the ship.  
"Crawford, let's go!" she called.  
"Bun, Buneary!" the Buneary yelled. Its voice indicated that it's female. Crawford and Budew raced towards the ship and jumped in.  
"Don't worry, Mantine, we'll save you!" Crawford vowed as the ship sailed away. The students were left in awe, but Alexa still maintained a neutral expression.  
"So that's what it's like to be a ranger," she said to herself. "All the more reason to uphold the promises we made, right Keith?"  
"You bet! We made them in front of the pledge stone, so there's no way I'll turn my back on it!" Keith agreed.

_The next day…_

"I've received word from Crawford," Ms April began to her class; five out of six were present and accounted for. "The Mantine has been successfully rescued."  
"That's good to know," one of the female students sighed with relief.  
"Are Mantine really 6'11"?" Rhythmi asked.  
"Yes they are," Ms April confirmed. "Which means Alexa's statement yesterday was correct."  
"I have seen a Mantine before," Alexa began. "I think they have cute faces. But this isn't why we're here today, is it, Ms April?"  
"No, it isn't," Ms April laughed. "Principal Lamont has paid a visit to the Ranger Union and has borrowed two Ranger stylers," she continued, picking up two stylers, resembling the one Crawford possessed. "These stylers are special, as they have a special feature that our school stylers lack. What is that feature?"  
"It's voicemail, Ms April," Rhythmi answered.  
"Correct," Ms April confirmed. "Voicemail is an important feature; it allows a ranger to communicate with the operators."  
"And other rangers," Alex continued. "It didn't sound like Barlow – the guy who sent Crawford the voicemail the other day – was an operator."  
"He isn't, and that's also correct," Ms April praised. "Anyway, the stylers I have here will demonstrate what it is like for an operator to communicate with a ranger. Rhythmi, will you and Keith come up here please?"  
"Um, Keith isn't here," the second male student said.  
"Oh. Where is he anyway?" Ms April pondered. "Never mind. Alexa, can you come up here instead please?"  
"No problem," Alexa complied as she exited her seat to stood next to Rhythmi. Ms April gave the two girls the stylers.  
"Okay, you two, I want you to communicate via voicemail," Ms April instructed.  
"Wow, this is cool!" Rhythmi said with excitement. She held the styler in front of her. "Voicemail, voicemail, Alex, can you hear me?"  
"Um, Rhythmi? I'm right next to you," Alexa sighed.  
"Oh. Maybe we should be further apart," Rhythmi suggested.  
"Good idea, I'll go over there," Alexa volunteered, jogging to the classroom door. However…

**BANG!**

"AAGH!" The door suddenly opened and struck Alexa across the left hand side of her face. The door opened too fast, which caused Alex to fall on the floor. Ms April and Rhythmi flinch at the sudden impact. Mr Kincaid walked through the doorway and entered the classroom. Rhythmi ran over to Alexa's aid.  
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ms April," Mr Kincaid began. He failed to acknowledge the damage he caused. "But I would like to speak to Keith."  
"Keith isn't here I'm afraid," Ms April said. "What's all this about?" Rhythmi helped Alexa back onto her feet; she had a bruise on her left cheek, which also had a bleeding cut due to the sharp edges of the door having scratched her as it smacked her.  
"The school stylers have been stolen," Mr Kincaid replied. "And Keith isn't here? What a coincidence, wouldn't you say?"  
"Are you alright, Alexa?" Ms April asked, having just noticed Alexa and Rhythmi. Alexa tried to rest her hand on her cheek, but she flinched and recoiled her hand.  
"Ow…that's smarts…!" she complained. "So, wait, are you accusing Keith of stealing the school stylers?" she asked. Mr Kincaid faced her.  
"That would be an accurate assessment," he replied. "I'd get some ice for that bruise. After sealing that cut of yours, of course," he suggested casually. Alexa glared at him.  
"Wait a minute! Keith may be a show off, but he isn't a thief!" Rhythmi exclaimed in defence, on Keith's behalf. "I'll go look for him!"  
"Me too; I don't buy this 'coincidence' of yours, Mr Kincaid," Alexa said in agreement.  
"I will look as well," Ms April offered. "What is it you always say, Mr Kincaid? Never cast suspicion on someone else without proof?" Mr Kincaid murmured to himself.  
"We'll all look too!" the other students volunteered.  
"That settles it then," Ms April confirmed. "Alexa, Rhythmi, use the stylers to communicate with one another."  
"Okay," Alexa and Rhythmi complied together. Everyone then exited the classroom and scattered to look for Keith.  
"Alex, are you going to be alright?" Rhythmi asked, concerned about Alexa's cheek. Alexa lightly touched the bleeding cut and looked at her fingers, which were stained with blood.  
"I don't know when this bleeding will stop on its own if it will do," she began. "But I think I'll be okay in the long run. It's better than falling down the stairs, that's for sure! Speaking of the stairs, I think I'll look upstairs first."  
"I'll look outside," Rhythmi volunteered. "I'll let you know if I find anything."  
"Same back to you," Alexa offered. The two went their separate ways.

Upstairs, in the dormitory, there was nobody around, as Alexa noticed. She took the opportunity to raid the first aid kit and took out a pack, which contained an anti-bacterial wipe. She opened it and used a nearby mirror to clean her cut. Her borrowed styler picked up a voicemail, and she answered it after disposing the bloodstained wipe in the nearby bin.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Alex, it's me, Rhythmi," Rhythmi declared. "You'd better get outside, I've found something, over!" the transmission ended.  
"Just as well," Alexa said to herself. "Nothing's up here anyway, apart from what I needed." She raced down the stairs.

When she exited the school building, she met up with Rhythmi, who was standing over one of the school's stylers. Alexa picked it up.  
"Whoever the real thief is must be a real butterfingers," Alex said sarcastically.  
"Janice pointed this out for us," Rhythmi began. "I think if we look around here, we may find another one."  
"Forget butterfingers, we're dealing with a no-fingers," Alexa teased. Rhythmi suddenly noticed something.  
"Alex, your cut…" she trailed off. Confused, Alexa felt around her cheek before looking at her fingers; her fingers were covered with more blood.  
"Dammit. I don't think I should've ran here, then," she sighed. "I don't have anything to wipe it away with," she continued, rubbing her fingers on her shorts. "And I can't find anything to seal the cut. I'll have to make do until I get it treated. Right now, I want to prove Keith's innocence."  
"Me too, I'll look over by the Ascension Square," Rhythmi said quickly, running towards her said destination. Alexa jogged towards the school's exit, but stopped when she found something interesting.  
"Rhythmi!" Alexa shouted. "I've found another one!" she called. Rhythmi quickly raced towards Alex. She caught up with her not long after she stood up with the styler in her hand.  
"This must be where the thief went," Rhythmi guessed. "Wait, what's that?" she asked quietly.  
"Give those styler's back now!" Keith's voice could be heard faintly.  
"Leave me alone!" another voice could also be heard, just as faintly.  
"Keith! I knew he didn't do it!" Alexa said happily.  
"Let's go!" Rhythmi and Alexa ran down the steps.

Down by the school's entrance, Keith had cornered a man in laboratory-like attire by a lone tree. Alexa and Rhythmi approached him.  
"Keith, what's going on?" Rhythmi asked.  
"I saw this guy running off with the stylers, so I gave chase," Keith replied. "How're we supposed to become Pokémon Rangers if we don't have our stylers?!"  
"Please! Just leave me alone!" the man pleaded.  
"We can't because you have some things we need," Alexa sighed. "Just hand them over, and the less said about this incident the better."  
"I don't want to!" he shrieked. He attempted to make a run for it, but he crashed into the tree he was backed into. A Slakoth fell out of the tree and landed on his head. "AAAAAH! Get it off me!"  
"Hahahahahaha! It fell on his head!" Keith laughed. "It serves you right for stealing our stylers!"  
"I know vengeance is sweet, but this isn't what I had in mind," Alexa said quietly.  
"Please, I won't do it again, I swear!" the man pleaded. "Just get this thing off me! Please!"  
"We'd better help him out, Alex," Rhythmi said, taking pity on the troubled man. Alexa got her school styler and released the spinning top.  
"Capture on! Go, little capture disc!" she shouted enthusiastically. The capture disc spun around the Slakoth, forming the familiar ring that then dissolved into the sloth Pokémon. The Slakoth then returned to the tree from whence it came. "Capture complete and released."  
"What's going on down here?" Ms April asked, making her way down the steps.  
"This is the guy who stole our stylers!" Keith yelled. The man recoiled with fright.  
"Please don't hurt me! I did it because I regret not choosing to become a Pokémon Ranger in the first place!" he confessed.  
"Okay, why don't you go home and think about what you've done," Ms April said calmly. "Age doesn't matter when applying for this school."  
"Y-you're letting me go? T-t-thank you so much!" the man exclaimed with joy as he raced out of the school gates.

_Later on…_

"So that's how it is," Ms April concluded. She, Mr Kincaid, Alexa, Keith, Rhythmi and Principal Lamont were all in the staff room, discussing the mystery of the stolen stylers.  
"So the thief managed to escape, but Keith is no longer a suspect," Lamont began. "I'm just relieved we got the stylers back and nobody was hurt."  
"Apart from Alex before we found out about the stylers," Rhythmi muttered.  
"Not the time or place, Rhythmi," Alexa sighed. Her cut was still bleeding, and the bruise on her cheek became more noticeable.  
"If it hadn't been for Rhythmi and Alexa's mutual desire to defend Keith from the accusation against him," Lamont continued. "None of this would have been a success. Incidentally, Alexa, I shall find someone to treat that cut of yours."  
"Thank you, sir," Alexa said gratefully. "Although I think the bruise will linger for a while."

_Later still…_

Upstairs in the dormitory area, Janice was carefully treating Alexa's cut. Rhythmi and Keith were nearby.  
"Ow…!" Alexa flinched with pain under her breath. "Why did he have to open that door so hard? He could've knocked it off of the hinges!"  
"Mr Kincaid didn't even notice that he hit you to begin with!" Rhythmi scolded. "That's what makes me mad the most! The least he could do was apologise!"  
"When did it happen anyway?" Keith asked.  
"When Mr Kincaid burst into our classroom," Rhythmi answered. "Ms April gave Alex and I the stylers Principal Lamont borrowed from the Ranger Union to practise the voicemail with."  
"There, I'm all finished now," Janice said, revealing Alexa's cheek; she had several pieces of stitch tape over her cut, which closed it at last. Her cheek was clean from blood, but her bruise was still noticeably purple.  
"Thank you, Janice," Alexa said gratefully. "I think I'll be alright now."  
"You're very welcome, Alexa," Janice remarked. She got out of her seat and walked off with the medical rubbish; the empty packet of stitch tape and a bloodied anti-bacterial wipe. Rhythmi and Keith took a look at Alexa's cheek.  
"Ouch…! That looks like it hurt," Keith said, mildly with recoil.  
"Believe me, don't recreate this injury," Alexa advised. "It's not fun."  
"I don't think I'll forgive Mr Kincaid that easily," Rhythmi scoffed. "He opened that door way too fast! How was anyone supposed to know he was coming in? He could've knocked or something!"  
"Obviously he doesn't use his hairspray just for that stupid hairstyle of his," Alexa muttered sarcastically. 'I really don't trust the guy. But the fact that he caused my injury today doesn't contribute to my hunch, it just proves it. I can't trust him. I just can't.'

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three - One-Day Internship &amp; Ryder!**

"Alright, class, today is the day of your one-day internships," Ms April began happily. "You have all been assigned to different places depending on your chosen paths. I must ask that you all go straight to your locations without taking any detours and straight back here at the end of the day, also without detours."  
"Yes, Ms April," the students complied. Alexa's cut had healed, but her bruise still lingered, although the pain did not. Ms April left the classroom, as did some of the students. Rhythmi, Alexa and Keith approached one another.  
"I'm going to be an Operator, so I'm off to the Union," Rhythmi began. "I'll see you both this evening," she said, running out of the room.  
"Alex, you're assigned to Vientown, aren't you?" Keith asked.  
"Yeah, and so are you by the sound of things," Alexa replied playfully. Keith laughed.  
"Yeah, I am. Why don't we go together? No sense in going our separate ways," he suggested.  
"Good idea. Thanks, Keith."

_A little while later…_

Alexa and Keith walked down the steps leading to where they confronted the thief from the other day.  
"AAAAHH! Get them away from me!" a man shrieked. Keith and Alexa looked towards the other tree; they saw a frightened man up a tree, hoping to avoid the two agitated Bidoof below.  
"Oh, hey, Little Tim! Playing with the Bidoof today?" Keith asked playfully.  
"It doesn't look like any game I'd be playing," Alexa said on a more serious note.  
"Oh, this is Little Tim from Vientown," Keith began. "He delivers the milk there, but he's scared of Pokémon for some reason. Must be hard when you're a milkman."  
"Never mind that, Keith, let's help him!" Alexa said enthusiastically.  
"Right! You get one, I'll get the other one," Keith suggested. "They're agitated, to be careful."  
"Gotcha," Alexa agreed. They both got their stylers and released their capture discs.  
"Capture on!" they yelled in unison. The capture discs circled the agitated Bidoof; they attempted to attack the disc, but neither of the Bidoof managed to do so before the styler confirmed their 'capture'. Alexa and Keith released the two Bidoof, since they calmed down, allowing Little Tim to climb down from the tree.  
"Thank you so much," he thanked. "I'm deathly afraid of Pokémon, y'see. They must be attracted to the milk."  
"That would explain it," Keith assumed. "You've never met Alex, have you? She's the newest student, but her skills are second only to yours truly!"  
"For now," Alexa teased.  
"I'm mighty grateful for your help, young Alex," Little Tim said with gratitude.  
"You're welcome. You take care now," Alexa said modestly.  
"Yup, I sure will! Thanks again." Little Tim made his way out of the school gates.  
"Okay, let's get to Vientown," Alexa suggested. "Those Bidoof might make us late."  
"Alexa, Keith!" Ms April called. The two of them turned towards the steps and saw Ms April walking down towards them. "That was impressive. You worked together rather than competed. Keep it up, you two." Alexa and Keith then made their way out of the school gates.

"Was there any point in Ms April telling us we did good?" Alexa asked; she and Keith were now heading for the bridge.  
"Not especially, but it's good to get a compliment," Keith stated. The two came across a young girl with blonde hair looking troubled. The girl approached Alexa and Keith.  
"Um…I'm looking for someone, but I don't know where he is," the girl said nervously.  
"Who're you looking for?" Alexa asked kindly. Two other students approached Alexa and Keith from behind; one had blonde hair like a mushroom, and the other had green hair.  
"Melody? What're you doing here?" the blonde boy asked. The little girl ran towards him.  
"Hi, Isaac!" the girl greeted happily.  
"Melody, I told you not to come looking for me," Isaac sighed.  
"That's Isaac's sister, Melody," the other boy explained. "She lives in Pueltown, so Isaac can't see her very often."  
"I know how he must feel," Alexa said to herself, looking rather reminiscent. Keith heard Alexa's words, but said nothing.  
"Melody, I'm not mad at you," Isaac said softly. "I'll introduce you to my friends." He looked around at Alexa, Keith and the other boy. "This is Ponte, Keith, and the newest addition to the school, Alexa."  
"Just call me Alex," Alexa said kindly.  
"Melody, we'll go back to Pueltown together," Isaac said in a friendly manner.  
"Okay. Bye friends of Isaac!" Melody called as she and Isaac left the bridge.  
"Are you two going to Vientown? I still don't know what I'll do," Ponte sighed.  
"That's why you're the conflicted marshmallow boy," Keith said playfully.  
"Keith, let's go; any more delays and we'll be late," Alexa warned.  
"Oh, right; see you later, Ponte!" Keith exclaimed as he and Alexa ran towards Vientown.

_Later…_

Alexa and Keith entered the Vientown ranger base. They found it deserted barring the operator at the desk.  
"Oh, you must be Keith and Alexa," the Operator assumed. "Here for your one-day internship?"  
"That's us and yes we are," Alexa replied. "Where's everyone else?" she asked.  
"Oh, they're all on Breeze Hill on an emergency mission," the operator replied. "Anyway, Barlow asked me to assign you the mission to deliver this parcel to the team," she continued, placing a big box on the desk. "Whatever happens, be careful with it and do not turn it upside down."  
"Breeze Hill, no uppy-downy, got it," Alexa said hastily.  
"How do we get to Breeze Hill?" Keith asked.  
"Oh, you go to the right from here," the operator began. "Go through Nabiki Beach and then follow the signs for Breeze Hill."  
"Thanks a lot. Say, do you have a bigger box with handles on it?" Alexa asked.

_Later still…_

Alexa and Keith walked towards the beach, both holding a box – with the parcel inside – by the handles; Alexa used her left hand whilst Keith used his right hand.  
"Great idea, Alex," Keith complimented. "This makes it easier to carry."  
"And we won't have to worry about it flipping upside down either," Alexa added. The two were about to head up the steps when they saw a friendly-looking old man with three Pokémon; Starly, Pachirisu and Munchlax.  
"Aah, Pachirisu, Pachirisu. So cute, so cute," the man said to the little squirrel Pokémon. "What's wrong, Munchalx? Are you not hungry?" he asked towards the green/blue Pokémon. "Yes, that's right, Starly, eat up, as much as you want," he said towards the little bird Pokémon. He noticed Alexa and Keith. "Oh! By the looks of your uniforms, I'd say you're students of the Ranger School on a one-day internship!"  
"You can tell that at a glance?" Alexa asked.  
"This is Mr Woodward," Keith began. "He's a craftsman who lives in Vientown."  
"Oh."  
"A quick quiz for you. What is a partner Pokémon?" Mr Woodward asked.  
"Easy; it's a Pokémon who is especially friendly towards a Ranger and always follows them around," Keith answered.  
"That's correct! A Pokémon Ranger can only have one partner Pokémon, yes?" Mr Woodward asked.  
"No, but they can only have one with them at one time," Keith answered again.  
"That is also correct! They say that if you meet your partner Pokémon at Nabiki Beach, you are friends for life," Mr Woodward said. "You take care now."  
"Thank you," Alexa and Keith thanked as they went passed him and the three Pokémon.

_On Breeze Hill…_

"This is the place," Keith whispered. "Damn, I'm nervous from the excitement." Crawford, the female ranger from before and a more muscle-bound ranger were looking at the view over the hill.  
"Take a deep breath, Keith," Alex advised. "I'm sure you'll be alright." Keith took a deep breath as advised.  
"Hellomeetcha!" he said loudly. The three rangers faced him in confusion, but Alexa tried not to laugh.  
"Did you just say hellomeetcha? You nervous?" the muscle-bound ranger asked, approaching the duo. Alexa cleared her throat.  
"Hello. You're…Barlow, am I right?" she assumed. "You sent Crawford a voicemail the other day?"  
"Hah, lucky guess," Barlow laughed. "You must be Alexa and Keith, am I right?"  
"Yep! He's Keith, I'm Alex," Alexa confirmed. "For my name is really Alexa. I just like Alex better."  
"Hah, Crawford told me about you," Barlow began. "He said your question at the Outdoor class was the best one."  
"Better than the one about the pyjamas, that's for sure," Keith muttered. Alexa laughed quietly.  
"Anyway, you already know Crawford," Barlow continued. "That over there is Luana, our second year ranger," he added, referring to the black haired ranger with the Buneary. "And this is our Mechanic, Elaine," he introduced, referring to a brunette girl dressed in mildly oily clothing.  
"Hi," Elaine greeted.  
"You're from the ranger school, right?" Luana asked. "The uniforms bring back memories."  
"Hey, Alexa, Keith, good to see you again," Crawford began. "Now I'm actually wondering if you actually do have a chance with Alexa!" he teased.  
"Hey!" Keith and Alexa protested with annoyance. The others laughed.  
"Crawford likes to joke around," Barlow explained. "If you get assigned to our base, you'll have to get used to it. Anyway, is the parcel safe?"  
"Got an extra box just to be on the safe side," Alexa confirmed.  
"And so we can carry it too," Keith added. The two got over to an oddly placed rug and they carefully placed the parcel in the middle of it.  
"It's about time it got here, I'm starved!" Crawford said enthusiastically.  
"Eh?" Alexa looked at him in bewilderment. Barlow opened the parcel, revealing a picnic basket. This astonisheed Alexa at first.  
"Ah, no wonder why it couldn't be flipped upside down," Keith laughed. Alexa didn't take the news so well.  
"This is just something Crawford put together to welcome you two to your one-day internship," Barlow explained. "Sorry for tricking you," he apologised, having noticed Alexa's reaction.  
"It's okay," Alexa said finally. "I wasn't expecting anything difficult for a mission at this point in time anyway."  
"Aw, cheer up, Alex! You'll feel better after lunch," Keith said in a cheerful tone. Alexa looked away from him.  
"I'm not hungry," she said plainly. Luana suddenly noticed something.  
"How did you get that bruise on your cheek?" she asked. Crawford and Barlow noticed it too.  
"I suppose someone got jealous of your pairing then?" Crawford playfully asked. Alexa groaned and moved away from the group. Keith signalled Crawford not to joke about it and mouthed Mr Kincaid's name. Alexa stood by one of the trees, with her back turned on the others, pouting.  
"Hey, come on! It was just a joke!" Crawford said nervously. "What's the harm in that?"  
"One of our teachers gave her that injury," Keith began quietly. "Mr Kincaid opened our classroom door too quickly at a very inopportune time."  
"Ouch. No wonder why she took the joke badly," Barlow said, pitying Alex. Elaine stood up and approached Alexa.  
"You okay?" she asked kindly.  
"I suppose… I don't like people making fun of any injuries I get; it just makes me feel worse," Alexa explained. She sighed sadly. "I shouldn't have reacted."  
"No, it's okay; we know what caused your injury now," Elaine began. "Besides, Crawford does mean well. Why don't you come join us, huh?"  
"Okay…" Alexa complied, although somewhat hesitant. A tanned brunette boy raced onto the scene looking panicky.  
"I-I need some help!" he exclaimed. "Some Pokémon are fighting on Nabiki Beach!" he panicked.  
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it," Barlow reassured. "You heard him, folks! Lunch will have to wait, we have a mission on our hands!" he, Alexa, Keith and the others followed the panicky boy to Nabiki Beach.

At Nabiki Beach, they found Pachirisu, Starly, Munchlax and two random pink Shellos annoying a wet blue-eyed Lucario with Prussian blue fur, who was attempting to attack them with blue spheres of energy from its black paws. The other five Pokémon appeared to be taunting the Lucario. Alexa gasped in horror.  
"Ryder!" she cried. Barlow, Crawford, Luana and Keith all faced her with astonishment.  
"Who's Ryder?" Keith asked.  
"My Lucario!" Alexa replied, still in complete shock. "How did he get all the way over here on his own?!"  
"I think we'll ask questions later! Crawford, you and I will capture the two Shellos," Barlow began. "Keith, Luana, Alexa, you handle the others."  
"Should I handle Lucario after the Shellos?" Crawford asked. Alexa faced him in horror.  
"No! Let me handle Ryder, I'm his trainer!" she pleaded.  
"Lucario are powerful Pokémon," Barlow warned. "Are you sure you-"  
"I know he's powerful, I RAISED HIM!" Alexa shouted, almost in anger. She was stressed because she could not fathom how one of her best Pokémon ended up on Nabiki Beach to begin with. Her words startled everyone around her.  
"Just be careful. Please," Barlow said worriedly. "Okay, let's go!" Readying their stylers, Barlow, Crawford, Luana, Keith and Alexa prepared to calm the Pokémon down. Keith and Luana were stressed.  
"Which one do I go for?" Keith asked.  
"I can't decide!" Luana complained. Alexa noticed that Ryder – the Lucario – was mainly after Pachirisu.  
"Pachirisu, Munchlax and Starly are all normally docile," Mr Woodward began. "Why would they agitate that poor Lucario?"  
"Keith, Luana, I'll go for Pachirisu! He's the one Ryder's after! You take care of the other two!" Alexa called.  
"Got it!" Keith complied. He set his capture disc on the Starly, which caused it to stop in its tracks.  
"Thanks, Alexa!" Luana thanked. She set her capture disc on the Munchlax, who stopped moving as a result.  
Alexa aimed her styler carefully. She released it at a precise moment – when Pachirisu was about to attack Ryder – to allow the capture disc to circle around both Pokémon. Not long after releasing the capture discs, everyone managed to capture their respective targets.

"Capture complete. How did everyone else do?" Barlow asked with curiosity. Luana had just released the Munchlax.  
"All clear!" she declared. Keith released the Starly.  
"I know I succeeded!" he stated. "Alex, what about you?" Alexa released the Pachirisu before facing Keith.  
"Y-yeah…I got it," she answered feebly. She faced Ryder, looking rather upset. "Ryder…" Ryder looked up at her with guilt. His sensors rose slightly.  
_Alex…are…are you mad?_ Ryder asked nervously via telepathy. His voice was masculine, deep and mature.  
"No, I'm not mad at you," Alexa answered. Everyone around her was astonished; Ryder didn't move his mouth when he spoke.  
"Alex! What was that?!" Keith asked in astonishment. Alexa faced him; she had tears in her eyes.  
"Telepathy," she answered. "I've read that Lucario had the ability to understand human speech, and could also speak it via telepathy. But I didn't know Ryder could speak telepathically until after he evolved three days after he hatched."  
"Wow; you must be closer than you two appear to be," Crawford said seriously. Ryder comforted his trainer with a soft cuddle. Alexa could feel that he was a tad damp from seawater.  
"I've had Ryder since he was a baby Riolu," she explained. "He's like a second brother to me, I wouldn't have any other Lucario."  
"Well, I think you can cheer up now; it's mission clear, Alex!" Barlow said on a lighter note. Alexa smiled a little bit.  
"I'm just glad Ryder's safe," she whispered.  
"You and Keith go on back to the base; the rest of us will clear up our lunch," Barlow offered. "It'll be my way of apologising for pulling that trick on you."  
"Come on, Alex, let's go," Keith said calmly. Alexa nodded once. Ryder held Alexa's hand – and vice versa – and they followed Keith back to the Ranger base.

_At the base…_

"So, let me see if I've got this right," Keith began. "Lucario can speak in our language without moving their mouths?"  
"Sort of," Alexa started. "Telepathy is basically communicating through means other than senses," she explained.  
_In my case, it's my aura that allows me to do so,_ Ryder added.  
"Oh I see. But three days after evolution? You must be pretty powerful," Keith complimented, digressing from the subject. Ryder smiled.  
_Alex is very skilled at raising Pokémon,_ Ryder stated.  
"Right, I get it now," Keith said with a laugh.

_Later on…_

"Alex, Keith, it's been a pleasure spending the day with you two," Barlow began. "I hope at least one of you gets assigned here."  
"And Alex? Sorry about hurting your feelings," Crawford began. "Elaine gave me a right talking to about it."  
"It's okay, Crawford," Alexa began. Ryder cuddled her right arm happily. "All that matters to me is that Ryder's out of harms way. Even though neither of us have a clue about what happened."  
"Aww, he's so cute!" Luana gleefully said in awe. "You must've given him expert care."  
"Thanks, Luana," Alexa said gratefully. "But behind that cute face lies a powerhouse."  
"Anyway, I think we should be heading for the Ranger School now, Alex," Keith said, almost abruptly.  
"Yeah, you're right," Alexa said worriedly. "But I'm not sure if the school will allow Ryder to stay until we graduate."  
"Well, normally, students aren't allowed to have partner Pokémon until they become fully pledged rangers," Barlow began. "But since Ryder is your Pokémon, I think they'll let it slide."  
"I sure hope so…" Alexa sighed. "Anyway, let's go give it a shot. See you soon, everyone!"  
"Take care, you two," Barlow said proudly. Alexa and Keith were about to make their way out of the base when an old man in a white lab coat and carrying a walking stick entered the base.  
"Now what's all the commotion about?" he asked. He suddenly noticed Alexa and Keith by the door. "Ah, are you also students of the ranger school?"  
"We are, yes," Keith answered.  
"Ah, yes, we had a bright cheery young girl – about your age – at the union for her one-day internship," the man continued. "I think her name was something like Misery or something…"  
"Huh?"  
"Rhythmi," Alexa corrected.  
"Ah, yes, that was her name!" the man exclaimed. "Take care in returning to the school."  
"Thank you. Goodbye," Alexa said politely as she and Keith exited the building.

_Along the bridge…_

"Alex? Can I ask you something?" Keith asked, sounding fairly nervous.  
"If this is about that pairing joke-" Alexa began, slightly frustrated.  
"No, it's not that," Keith interrupted, stopping Alexa in her tracks. "It's about what you've said before."  
"What have I said?" she asked in confusion.  
"Firstly, I heard you saying something about knowing how Isaac must've felt when his sister came by," Keith began. "Then you said something about Ryder being a second brother to you."  
"Oh, that? I have a little brother back home," Alexa explained.  
"Really? I didn't know that," Keith said in astonishment.  
"That's why you asked me about what I said, right?" Alexa guessed. "He's a bit older than Melody; 12 years old."  
"That's nice," Keith complimented. Alexa and Ryder started making their way across the bridge. "He must be a lucky kid to have a sister like you, Alex," Keith whispered to himself. Alexa and Ryder stopped in their tracks; they heard Keith's words, but neither one of them made it known to Keith. Alexa appeared to be flattered, as she was blushing with a faint smile on her face.  
"Yoo hoo! Rangers in training!" Rhythmi called out from the other side of the bridge. She raced towards them while Alexa and Ryder walked back to Keith's side. "So, how was your internship?"  
"We had fun," Keith answered. "Right, Alex? Ryder?" Rhythmi faced Alex and noticed the Lucario holding onto Alexa's arm.  
"Who's this?" she asked.  
"That," Keith began. "Is Ryder, Alex's Lucario. We found him at Nabiki Beach, but we don't know how he got there in the first place."  
"Poor thing. Is he alright?" Rhythmi asked, carefully moving towards Ryder to pet him on the head. Ryder didn't react to the petting.  
_I'm okay,_ Ryder replied. _Though I don't remember how I ended up on Nabiki beach,_ he added as Rhythmi looked up at Alexa in astonishment.  
"How did he-"  
"Telepathy," Keith interrupted.  
"Oh, right," Rhythmi laughed. "Will they allow him to stay?" she asked.  
"I sure hope so," Alexa began. "He's my Pokémon, not a wild one, so I hope they do."  
"I hope they don't make him sleep outside," Rhythmi began. "It's too hard on him after what he must've been through."  
"Well, let's see what lies in store at the school," Keith suggested. He, Rhythmi, Alexa and Ryder jogged across the bridge and towards the school.

_Later on…_

Keith and Rhythmi were waiting impatiently outside the staff room. Rhythmi appeared to be panicking.  
"Do you think he'll let Ryder stay here?" she asked.  
"If he does, I'll be more worried about what Mr Kincaid is going to think," Keith replied. "I don't think he likes Alex."  
"Why not?" Rhythmi asked.  
"I dunno. I get the feeling that Alex's accident with the classroom door wasn't an accident," Keith began. "I'm not sure if Alex thinks the same way, but that's just my guess. I can't be sure."  
"It did seem a bit too coincidental if I'm honest," Rhythmi admitted. "Do you think we should ask Alex about what she thinks of it?"  
"I'd rather not. She just found out her own Pokémon ended up here from Alex's home region and neither one of them knows what happened," Keith said. "I don't think talking about Mr Kincaid is high on her to-do list at the moment."  
The staff room door opened, as Alexa and Ryder exited the room. Ryder closed the door behind him.  
"How was it?" Rhythmi asked. Alexa shrugged.  
"He said yes in an instant," she replied, in a bewildered tone.  
"What?! Then why were you so long in there?" Keith asked.  
"He wanted to know the story about how we came across Ryder," Alexa explained. "I told him about Nabiki Beach, then he told me that my bond with Ryder can only grow stronger from here on in." She and Ryder faced one another. "I'm not sure how much stronger our bond can be, but Principal Lamont said the strength of our bond may be tested at some point after we graduate."  
"What do you mean, you're not sure how much stronger your bond can be?" Rhythmi asked.  
"It's simple; Riolu evolve into Lucario if the said Riolu bears strong feelings of friendship towards the one they care about the most, like their trainer," Alexa elaborated. "Ryder evolved into Lucario three days after he hatched, so…yeah."  
"Wow; you know a lot about Pokémon, Alex," Keith complimented. "First the Mantine's size and now how Lucario evolves from Riolu; you're like a dictionary! And Ryder evolving three days after he hatched? You sure do bond with Pokémon!" Alexa smiled and blushed.  
"Thanks, Keith, but it's nothing, really," she said modestly. "I learnt about Pokémon breeding after meeting the Pokémon Day-care man outside Cerulean City, which is what I've been basing my Pokémon care on."  
"So that's why Ryder looks so adorable and powerful at the same time!" Rhythmi explained.  
"Yeah…that would be it," Alexa confirmed shyly.

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Graduation! Taking Your Respective Paths!**/u

_A week later…_

"Okay, class," Ms April began, having taken a deep breath. "This is the last time I will speak to you like this. Today is your graduation day! I know this means having to say goodbye, but you can take the time before the official ceremony to tie up any loose ends."  
'Please don't use that figure of speech…' Alexa thought to herself, looking rather tense. 'Wait…goodbye?! Urgh, I'm no good at these things…!'  
Ms April left the classroom, as did the other students and Rhythmi. Keith faced Alexa in confusion.  
"What's wrong? Aren't you excited about graduating today?" he asked. "At least you can finally keep Ryder with you without worrying anymore."  
"That's not the point," Alexa disregarded Keith's statement. "I…I'm…I'm not…not ready…"  
"For what?" Keith asked. Alexa looked as though she was about to cry; she managed to resist the urge to, but her tears still leaked from her eyes.  
"I'm not ready to say goodbye!" she confessed. Keith's astonished; he saw Alexa upset, but not like that.  
"Then don't," Keith answered simply. Alexa faced him in confusion. "Don't think of it as goodbye," he continued, getting out of his seat. He approached Alexa and offered his hand to her. "Think of it as 'see you later' instead." Alexa slowly moved her hand to meet Keith's. Keith then pulled her up out of her chair. "Come on, let's go to the Ascension Square."  
"Why?" Alexa asked.  
"Just because," Keith answered. He led Alexa out of the classroom.

_Outside…_

Keith led Alexa – and now Ryder – to the Ascension Square and the pledge stone. Alexa looked around in confusion.  
"Why are we here again?" Alex asked.  
"Because I don't want to say goodbye either," Keith admitted. "You're the best friend I've ever had, it's not fair to say goodbye." Keith's words almost made Alexa cry, but she managed to hold herself together once more. "That's why I want us to make a secret pledge."  
"Secret pledge?" Alexa asked.  
"Don't get me wrong, Rhythmi is my friend too," Keith began. "But you're the best friend by far."  
"So you want us to make the pledge to be best friends forever?" Alexa asked.  
"Not quite," Keith said. "I want us to make the pledge that we'll meet again in the future," he explained. His words astonished Alexa. "I know Rhythmi and I are off to Fiore while you're off to Vientown after this, so we won't be seeing each other after graduation. But I want us to meet up again and work together as fully pledged Top Rangers. That is what I want us to pledge."  
"Keith…" Alexa couldn't help but express her feelings through the many tears that scrolled down her face. "I…I really am lost for words…none of my friends back home have been this nice to me…! I said I was overwhelmed when I first arrived here, but this wasn't what I had in mind…!" Alexa confessed. Keith moved closer to her and rested his hand on her shoulder.  
"Don't worry…it'll be okay," he reassured. "I know today is an eventful one, but it should be seen through with a smile." Alexa wiped her eyes with her right sleeve.  
"I'm sorry…! It's just…I'm really happy that I got to know you and Rhythmi, I don't feel as though I'm ready to say goodbye!" Alexa cried.  
"And that brings you back to what you said in the classroom," Keith said playfully.  
"You're right…" Alexa faced him; although she was still shedding tears, she smiled at him. "I want us to meet up again too!" Keith nodded once.

**DING! DING! DING!**

"Aw, crap, it's the bell," Keith sighed. "I suppose we'll have to seal the pledge after the ceremony…"  
"Yeah, I suppose so," Alexa agreed.

_Inside the school…_

The hallway was completely decorated with fresh flowers and colourful banners commemorating the graduation of the school's students. The students were all gathered in front of the stairs leading down to the basement and up to the dormitories. Mr Kincaid, Ms April and Principal Lamont were standing before the students.  
"Congratulations. You have all graduated from Ranger School," Principal Lamont praised. "You are all about to embark from here today to take on your respective dreams and make them come alive. But, do not forget, no matter where you end up, always remember to smile. You may look back on your time here, and describe them as the soil that the seeds of your dreams were planted into, where they have sprouted and developed, much like the flowers you all see around us. But, please, do not forget to smile. Thank you, and congratulations again."  
"Thank you, Principal Lamont," Mr Kincaid began. "Now, I would like to call upon the student chosen as the school's valedictorian. The best student in the school; that would be Isaac, naturally." Isaac makes his way onto the 'stage'. Ryder tilted his head towards Alexa.  
_Something seems funny about this whole thing,_ he said quietly. Alexa squinted at him.  
"Are you sure?" she whispered.  
"There are a lot of people I want to thank for our time at this school," Isaac began. "To Principal Lamont, who watches over what we do with a watchful eye. To our teachers, Mr Kincaid and Ms April, who provide us with the knowledge we need to further understand our dreams. To Janice, the mother of us all. And to all of the books in the library…thank you." Isaac stepped down off of the stage and returned to his original place in the audience.  
"You did well, Isaac," Keith complimented.  
"Thanks, Keith," Isaac thanked. Ms April stepped forward on the stage.  
"I would like to call upon the chosen student to be the representative of the school," she began. "Alexa, would you come up here please?"  
"Whuh?!" Ms April's words startled her.  
"Hey, how about that! You're the rep!" Keith said happily. Alexa nervously moved towards the stage.

**BOOM!**

"What was that?" Rhythmi asked in shock.  
"I think it came from the basement," Ms April assumed. Mr Kincaid panicked.  
"I'll go and investigate," he volunteered, running down towards the basement. Ryder gently pulled Alexa back towards the audience. "AAAAAAAAARGH!"  
"What's going on down there?!" Alex shouted.

**THUMP! THUMP!**

Two Tangrowth emerged from the basement. Everyone – barring Alex, Ryder and Keith – panicked.  
"Quickly, retreat!" Lamont shouted. Everyone ran back to the opposite end of the school. The Tangrowth looked agitated.  
"What do we do?!"  
"Is Mr Kincaid alright?!"  
"Where did they come from?!"

The other students were in panicky states of mind…

"Alex, if nobody else is up to capturing those Tangrowth, I suppose we'll have to!" Keith stated. Alexa faced him confidently.  
"You're right; the staff can't do everything, so we have to take charge of this situation!" Alex exclaimed in corroboration. She and Keith readied their stylers, but Ryder stopped them.  
_Alex, Keith, let me take care of them!_ He offered willingly.  
"No, Ryder, you can't handle two Tangrowth on your own," Alexa began. "Besides, I need you to protect everyone else! You're our last resort, but only if we fail! Please, Ryder, I need you to keep the others safe."  
_Okay then. Good luck,_ Ryder smiled and nodded once, accepting his place. Alexa and Keith ran towards the Tangrowth and prepared for capture.  
"You take one, I'll take the other," Keith suggested.  
"That's just how I roll; teamwork for the win," Alexa agreed.

"CAPTURE ON!"

The two capture discs fired both at once, both circling around their respective targets. Keith's target failed to attack before it gets captured, but Alex's target managed to release an intoxicating powder attack on her moments before it got captured. The poisonous spores scattered around Alexa, creating a nasty flu-like side effect. Horrified, Ryder rushed over to Alexa as soon as the spores faded and he gave her a pink berry. Knowing exactly what the berry is, Alexa ate it instantly.  
"Thanks, Ryder, you're a lifesaver," she said quietly. Ryder gave Alex a very big hug.  
"Capture complete!" Alexa and Keith said in unison. Realising they spoke in unison again, they faced each other and blush again, but with a warm smile each.

_Afterwards…_

"I-I'm sorry, sir, I couldn't find out what went wrong," Mr Kincaid apologised.  
"At least nobody got hurt; that's the most important thing," Lamont said with relief. "Alexa, Keith, you two have demonstrated what it means to take charge in a perilous situation. I thank you on behalf of everyone for your efforts. Now, Ms April, if you will?"  
"Yes, sir," Ms April complied. "As I was saying earlier, I would like to call upon the chosen student to be the representative of the school. Alexa, would you come up here please?" Alex made her way up to the stage, with Ryder accompanying her. "As it has been said before, I want to thank you and Keith for protecting the rest of us from those Tangrowth. I present to you this certificate commemorating today's graduation. Congratulations." Alexa accepted the official document and she, followed by Ryder, left the stage and returned to the audiences.  
"Congratulations everyone! You have all graduated!" Applause flooded the entire school.

_Not long later…_

Alexa and Ryder were preparing to exit through the school gates. Alexa looked somewhat saddened, but at least she had Ryder to accompany her.  
"Alex, wait!" Keith shouted. Alexa and Ryder looked back and found Keith rushing towards them.  
"Keith! Shouldn't you be waiting for your ferry to Fiore?" Alexa asked in astonishment.  
"Yeah, but I'm not going until I know we've sealed our promise," Keith replied, smiling. Alexa smiled warmly.  
"Thanks, Keith," she said, holding out her left hand. Keith seemed a tad confused at first, but he held the hand with his right hand. He suddenly pulled Alexa towards him and hugged her softly, much to her astonishment.  
"No. Thank YOU, Alex," Keith said quietly. "For everything." Alexa started to get emotional, but she expressed it by hugging Keith in return.  
"Take care, my friend…take care…" Alexa said quietly. She and Keith saw each other eye to eye. Tears started to fall from her eyes again. "Good luck."  
"You too, my friend," Keith responded. He faced Ryder. "You look after her for me now, okay?" Ryder smiled and saluted him.  
_No need to tell me twice, captain,_ he added playfully. Keith faced Alexa again.  
"Remember, this isn't goodbye…"  
"…it's 'see you later' instead," Alexa resumed. "You'd better go…you'll miss your ferry…"  
"Yeah…" Keith seemed to be emotional himself. "See you later, Alex…" he ran up the stairs as fast as he could without tripping up. Alexa looked around the area.  
"Ryder…this is where Keith and I first worked together…on the day you and I met up again…" she said finally. Ryder held onto Alexa's left hand for comfort.  
_Don't worry, Alex, we'll meet again,_ he said reassuringly.  
"I know Keith promised we'll meet again in the future," she continued. "But I'll miss him in the meantime…him and Rhythmi…" She looked up at the steps leading back to the school.

_At the Ascension Square…_

Keith and Rhythmi prepared to board a small ship bound for the Fiore region. Both of them looked back at the school.  
"Wow, I can't believe this day has finally come!" Rhythmi said with excitement. "I can't wait to get to Fiore! What about you, Keith?"  
"Yeah, great," he replied with a lot less enthusiasm. Although Rhythmi was confused about Keith, she was too excited to think about it for long. She and Keith boarded the ferry and it left the port. On the ship, Keith sighed, somewhat sadly.

KEITH! RHYTHMI!

Alexa's voice loudly echoed through the atmosphere, as Keith and Rhythmi were bewildered at the calling. They looked back and found Alex and Ryder running to the port and waving at them with both arms.  
"Alex!? Ryder?!" Rhythmi was left utterly bewildered.  
"Let's make another promise, right here, right now!" Alex shouted at the top of her voice. "This isn't goodbye for any of us!"  
"It's see you later instead!" Keith shouted back. "We will meet up again! We promise!"  
"I know you will!" Alexa cried loudly. "Goodbye!"  
"See ya, Alex!" Rhythmi shouted happily.  
"Stay strong! I'll see you soon, I promise!" Keith cried, with a single tear falling down his cheek. Eventually, the Ranger School port disappeared from sight.

Back at the port, Alexa fell to her knees and attempted to calm herself down; her new friends were gone. Ryder walked over to Alexa. He knelt down on one knee and attempted to comfort her.  
_Alex, it's not the end of the world,_ he said softly. _I'm sure the both of them will be in good health in Fiore._ Alexa faced him; tears were still falling down her face.  
"I know, Ryder…but…I can't help feeling all this sorrow," she admitted. Ryder smiled warmly.  
_Just remember what Keith told you,_ he advised. _Stay strong._ Alexa sighed.  
"Stay strong… Keith's last words of advice for a while…" Ryder gave her a cuddle, and she cuddled back. "I suppose I'd better take that advice for all it's worth…" She and Ryder stood up properly again. "Let's go to Vientown. Hopefully the walk there will help me calm down." Ryder smiled and held her left hand as they both left the school. Properly.

_Later…_

Ryder and Alexa arrived at Vientown. Alexa took a few deep breaths, just in case she needed some last minute relaxation.  
"Okay…it's time to take Keith's advice and stay strong," she began. "This may be my first day as a ranger." Ryder faced her.  
_Oh, you'll manage it, no problem,_ he smiled. Alexa faced him happily.  
"Thank you, Ryder."  
"Hey, Alex!" Luana called. She and her Buneary approached Alexa and Ryder. They stopped before a collision took place. "Barlow's Makuhita saw you coming, so I decided to come get you!"  
"Buneary?" the Buneary seemed to be concerned about Alexa and how she was feeling.  
"Yeah, I'm okay…" Alexa replied.  
"Okay, I'll take you inside the base, where you can get changed," Luana said, leading Alexa and Ryder to the ranger base.

_Inside…_

Luana and Buneary returned with Alexa and Ryder in tow. Ryder held Alex's hand to make her feel more relaxed.  
"Alex, you so-and-so! What made you come here?!" Barlow laughed. "Welcome aboard!"  
"Are you alright?" Elaine asked. "You look uneasy."  
"Oh, it-it's nothing, really," Alexa answered; she sounded fairly uneasy.  
"Are you sure?" Luana asked. "You looked rather nervous when we saw you outside."  
"Yeah, I'll be fine, really," Alexa replied. "It's just the jitters, that's all it is."  
"Ah, I know how you feel," Luana began. "I felt the same thing last year."  
"Okay, Alex, we'd better get you started as a proper Area Ranger," Barlow began, looking behind him. "You can use the changing rooms to get into your new uniform."  
"But Lucario stays out here," Crawford began. "It's rude for a bloke to watch a lady getting undressed," he teased. Ryder faced Alexa.  
_He has a point,_ he began. _I'll wait for you here, but take your time._  
"Okay, but don't be too bored," she answered. She made her way to the changing rooms and she closed the door behind her.

Inside the changing rooms, Alexa started taking off her school uniform, starting with her gloves, tie, cardigan and her blouse. She almost took off her blouse completely when she suddenly noticed a large purple bruise on her right shoulder, just underneath her bra strap.  
'That's strange,' she thought to herself. 'I don't remember feeling any pain in my shoulder. I guess I must've got it when Mr Kincaid knocked me down with the door.'

_Several minutes later…_

"You have to admit, Lucario is very adorable," Elaine began. "Alex did a good job raising him."  
_My name is Ryder, thank you very much,_ Ryder sighed.  
"Those Aura Spheres back at Nabiki beach looked powerful," Crawford began. "I'm sure he's stronger than he looks."  
"Yeah, he is," Alexa said abruptly, from the back of the room. Everyone turned around to face her and were astonished; Alexa was in a uniform identical to that of Luana's.  
"Who let this Ranger in here? That can't be Alex, surely!" Crawford said jokingly. Barlow approached her.  
"Wow, Alex, you look fantastic in that uniform!" Luana exclaimed in awe. "Are you sure you shouldn't be a model instead?"  
"Yes, I'm sure, Luana," Alexa sighed; her sigh had a slight laugh to it.  
"Is everything okay? Nothing too big, nothing to tight?" Barlow asked.  
"No, it's a perfect fit," Alex answered. "How did you know my measurements?"  
"Oh, we had a letter from your grandfather," Crawford began. "It contained your measurements."  
"I suppose he gave you the ones that were noted when I got into my school uniform?" Alexa assumed.  
"Yep, that's right," Crawford winked.  
"Anyway," Barlow began. "I believe now's the best opportunity to give you something no Ranger can do without; a Capture Styler." He gave Alexa a red remote-like device, similar to the ones Principal Lamont had borrowed from the union. "This makes you a fully certified Pokémon Ranger!"  
"Thank you, Barlow," Alexa said gratifyingly. Alexa looked at her new styler closely. "This one allows you to use Pokémon Assists, right?"  
"Yeah. Do you know how they work?" Barlow asked.  
"I know about Pokémon Assists, yes," Alexa confirmed. "There are 17 in total, with each having a different effect depending on the type."  
"Hah, you certainly know a lot for a rookie," Barlow complimented. "But you'll learn better by seeing them for yourself."  
"That's how I roll," Alexa said playfully.  
"Anyhow, I've got your first mission ready for you," Barlow declared. "I want you to go with Crawford and deliver the Vien Tribune to everyone in Vientown and Chicole Village."  
"No problem," Alexa complied.  
"All right, then let's go, rookie," Crawford teased. Ryder and Alexa followed Crawford out of the base.

_Several minutes later…_

"So, Alex, disappointed that your first mission's a paper round?" Crawford asked teasingly. He, Alexa and Ryder were en route to a farm in Vientown.  
"Not especially, since it's my first day," Alexa shrugged. "I wasn't expecting to go all 'let's stop that bank robbery!' on my first day," she laughed. They entered the farmhouse.  
"Mama! The Triboon come!" a little boy called.  
"Crawford and a stranger have come with the paper!" a slightly older girl shouted. A bulky blonde woman in a pink dress entered the room.  
"Howdy, Crawford," she greeted. Little Tim also enters the room.  
"Oh, hey, it's Alex again!" he exclaimed. "Ayup, I knew you'd be a Ranger!"  
"Thanks, Little Tim," Alexa said thankfully. Crawford went over to him and gave him the newspaper. He and Alexa then exited the farmhouse.

"So that's Little Tim's place, huh?" Alexa pondered. "It has a quaint charm to it, I must admit."  
"You sound like you haven't been in a farmhouse all your life," Crawford laughed.  
"Well, my family back home is something of a high class one, to put it bluntly," Alexa muttered.  
"Ah, mum and dad won't let you in the farm scene, huh?" Crawford teased. Alex felt uneasy.  
"To put it lightly, yeah," she replied nervously. They approached another house in Vientown. Alexa looked in through the window. "Hey, nobody's home."  
"Oh, that's Mr Woodward's workshop," Crawford began. "No doubt he's at Nabiki Beach. Let's go there."  
"Okay." Alexa, Crawford and Ryder headed for Nabiki Beach.

_At Nabiki Beach…_

Crawford, Alexa and Ryder approached Mr Woodward, who was by the same Munchlax, Starly and Pachirisu from the one-day internship. Ryder growled with anger at the three Pokémon, but didn't attack them.  
"Hello, Crawford," Mr Woodward greeted. "I think the Pokémon want to apologise to your friend's Lucario companion."  
"Mr Woodward, this is Alex," Crawford introduced. "She was here the other day on her one-day internship."  
"Ah, yes, I remember now!" Mr Woodward faced Alexa. "As I said, I believe Starly, Munchlax and Pachirisu want to apologise to your partner. Is that acceptable?"  
"Well, it's not really up to me, it's Ryder they want to apologise to," Alexa began. "What do you think, Ryder?" she asked. Ryder scoffs.  
_May as well hear what they have to say for themselves,_ he sighed reluctantly. Pachirisu, Munchlax and Starly faced up to Ryder, who was reluctant to look down on the three little Pokémon.  
"Chippachi pachi pachi…!" the Pachirisu squealed remorsefully.  
"Munchlax…" Munchlax sighed.  
"Starly, star, star, starly," Starly apologised. Ryder huffed again. He looked between the three sorry-looking Pokémon.  
_Since nobody got hurt, I'll let it go just this once,_ Ryder sighed.  
"Ah, that's good to hear," Mr Woodward said with relief. Ryder faced the three Pokémon with a playful smirk.  
_Just don't make any more mischief like that again,_ he added.  
"I'm sure they won't," Mr Woodward said kindly. "They've learnt their lesson." Starly, Munchlax and Pachirisu ran off happily, knowing that they had been forgiven. "Incidentally, where does that leave your Lucario?" Mr Woodward asked.  
"Um…I'm not sure, to be honest," Alexa began. "Ryder is one of my Pokémon, a Pokémon who has his own Poké Ball. I'm not sure what to do with him."  
"A Pokémon Ranger should have a partner Pokémon," Mr Woodward began. "Have you considered making your Lucario your partner Pokémon?"  
"Partner Pokémon, eh?" Crawford inquired. Crawford's words somehow delighted Ryder.  
"I'd like him to be my partner Pokémon," Alex began. "But I'm not sure if he's qualified. I mean, he knows powerful attacks, one of which he has difficulties mastering. I'm not sure…"  
"So? Just because he's your own Pokémon, it doesn't mean he can't be a partner Pokémon," Crawford commented. "Besides, methinks Ryder likes the idea."  
"Huh?" Alexa looked at her delighted partner.  
_Think of it this way; Keith told me to look after you, right? Being your partner Pokémon will allow me to do so!_ He explained joyfully.  
"That settles it, then," Crawford began. "Ryder can now be your partner Pokémon!"  
Alexa and Ryder were both equally delighted. While Crawford gave Mr Woodward the Vien Tribune, Alexa and Ryder expressed their shared gratitude with a friendly hug.

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Disturbing Circumstances! Hypnotised Pokémon?!**

"Hey, Alexa! Did you sleep well?" Barlow asked, as Alex and Ryder entered the main reception of the base.  
"Yes, thank you," Alexa replied. Ryder leapt up at Alexa and cuddled her from behind. "As did Ryder, I think," she laughed.  
"I think he's still happy about the fact that he's your partner Pokémon now," Luana assumed happily.  
_Both assumptions are accurate,_ Ryder smiled.  
"Anyway, are you up for a mission, Alexa?" Barlow asked. Alexa and Ryder face him, both smiling.  
"Yep, we're fired up!" Alexa replied. Ryder hopped down off of her back.  
"I want you and Crawford to investigate the Marine Cave," Barlow continued. Alex and Ryder were confused.  
"Marine Cave?" Alex queried.  
"We couldn't access it before because of the tide," Crawford explained. "It's a cave on Nabiki Beach, close to Breeze Hill."  
"We've received reports of a strange noise from inside the cave," Barlow elaborated. "We want you and Crawford to investigate the cause of the noise."  
"No problem," Alexa complied. "I just hope whatever the cause is, it isn't anything I'm familiar with," she muttered. She, Ryder and Crawford exited the base.

_At Nabiki Beach…_

Alexa and Ryder were about to walk down the steps. Crawford, however, intercepts and held them back.  
"Whoa, hold up!" he exclaimed abruptly. "See that Shellos over there?" he asked, pointing to the pink sea slug from the one-day internship. Wherever it slithers, it leaves sticky residue. "The slime Shellos leave behind is dangerous; step in it and you could get hurt."  
"Ew. Thanks for the heads up, Crawford," Alexa thanked. Ryder nodded in agreement.  
_That would've been frightfully messy,_ he teased.  
"There're other things that can hurt a Ranger too," Crawford continued. "So you'd best be careful."  
"I'll do my best," Alexa responded. The trio then resumed walking down the steps and towards the cave on the other side of the beach.  
When they got close to the steps leading to Breeze Hill, Ryder suddenly stopped Alexa and Crawford in their tracks.  
_Get your styler ready, Alex,_ he advised. Alexa readied her styler, though in confusion.  
"NYEAAOW!" A Glameow leapt towards Crawford.  
"Capture on," Alexa sighed as she instantly released the capture disc. The disc circled around Glameow and ensnared it with a white ring. The Glameow fell flat onto its feet. "Capture complete. Thanks for the heads up, Ryder." Ryder squinted back at her with a smile and nodded once.  
"Thanks, Alex," Crawford thanked with relief. "Glameow almost turned my hair into a yarn ball."  
"It's not far off," Alexa teased. "Come on, let's go into the cave." She, Ryder, Crawford and the befriended Glameow walked into the cave.

**NIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**

"Urgh!" Alexa complained, covering her ears from the irritating whirring noise. Ryder did the same thing. "The echoing doesn't help anything! What the hell is that noise?!"  
"Alex, look out!" Crawford yelled. A Zubat headed her way. Alex moved her hands from her ears and released her capture disc from her styler.  
"Capture on!" she exclaimed. Her capture disc circles the bat and the emitted light ring was absorbed into the bat. "Capture com-huh?" Alexa noticed something on her styler; the Zubat had not been befriended. The Zubat flew off.  
"That's odd. You captured that Zubat properly, didn't you?" Crawford asked. "How come it wasn't befriended like Glameow was?"  
"Why do I get a bad feeling that this monstrosity of a noise has something to do with it?" Alexa asked rhetorically. Ryder tapped Alexa's arm and he pointed to his right. Alexa and Crawford looked at what Ryder was pointing at; a large red machine was in operation, and the horrible noise was loudest around it. Crawford and Alex approached it.  
"And I think this machine has something to do with it," Crawford added. "Maybe if we can destroy it, we can stop the noise."  
"That would make sense, but how would we destroy something like that?" Alexa pondered. "Ryder, can you investigate it?"  
Ryder nodded as he walked over to the machine. He carefully placed his left paw on the machine, but an electrical shock pushed him back, causing him to crash into the wall behind him. Alexa ran over to him.  
"Ryder! You okay?!" she asked, helping him onto his feet. Ryder used his right paw to rub the back of his head.  
_Well that was bloody painful,_ he complained. _Maybe a trajectory attack would work better._  
"A trajectory attack? You mean like a water attack?" Alexa asked. Ryder nodded in confirmation.  
"There's a Gastrodon somewhere in this cave," Crawford began. "Maybe we can get it to destroy the machine," he suggested.  
"It's worth a try," Alexa agreed. She, Crawford, Ryder and Glameow followed the cave path until they found a fence blocking the way. Glameow performed a target clear by slashing the fencing away. Glameow was then released and it left the cave. This allowed Crawford, Alexa and Ryder to enter the next area of the cave.

In the second area of the cave, there was no abnormal noise, but there was another cave entrance that had become blocked by a large boulder. Crawford approaches the boulder.  
"Gastrodon is behind this rock," he explained. "We may have to do a target clear on this too."  
"But we'll need a Pokémon that can crush this rock, right?" Alexa guessed.  
"Yep. I think a Nosepass can help us here," Crawford advised. He, Alexa and Ryder moved along, going further into the cave. They went passed a timid looking Squirtle and found a lax Nosepass. Alexa released her capture disc and it circled the relaxed Nosepass. The white ring soon ensnared and caused the Nosepass to become befriended.  
"Capture complete. Now we can break that rock," Alexa commented. "Let's go, Nosepass."  
"Nose." Alexa, Crawford, Ryder and the Nosepass ran back to the large boulder. Nosepass tackled into the rock, crushing it and leaving tiny pebbles. Nosepass was then released and it left. Alexa, Crawford and Ryder entered the cave and find the pink/magenta/brown Gastrodon slithering around, leaving a similar residue to that of a Shellos. Alexa used her styler and her capture disc to capture and befriend the Gastrodon. The four of them left and returned to the first area of the cave.

**NIRRRRRRRRRR!**

"God, this noise is getting on my nerves!" Alexa complained. "The sooner we destroy that thing the better!"  
"I feel like complaining to the neighbours about the noise," Crawford teased. He, Alexa, Ryder and the Gastrodon approached the red machine. Gastrodon fired a ball of water at the machine, which caused a small explosion, thus destroying it. Gastrodon then left. The Pokémon in the area appeared to have returned to their senses and they scattered.  
"Huh; I guess this thing was responsible for this disturbance after all," Alexa assumed. Crawford prepared to lift the broken machine off from the ground.  
"I suppose we'll take this back to the base then," he suggested. He got a good grip on the machine and tried to lift it up. After a few attempts, Crawford gave up. "No good," he sighed. "That thing's heavy! I don't think the two of us will get it out of here."  
"Then what can we do?" Alexa asked.  
"I'll get a hold of Almia's strongest person," Crawford began. "The only one that has defeated Barlow at arm wrestling. You and Ryder go on ahead and I'll wait for Almia's strongest person."  
"If you say so, Crawford. See you later." Alexa and Ryder left the cave. They walked along the beach.  
_Randomly placed machines screwing with the wild Pokémon? Doesn't seem the most logical thing for anyone to do,_ Ryder sighed.  
"I know, it's weird," Alexa began. "Why put a random machine there that makes Pokémon go loopy?" The woman from the farmhouse intercepted Alexa and Ryder.  
"Howdy again," she greeted.  
"Hey, you're from the farmhouse, aren't you?" Alexa inquired.  
"Sure am; they call me Big Bertha," the woman replied. "For some reason, your Crawford called me for some help." Bertha's words startled Alexa and Ryder, causing them to become nervous. "I told my Little Tim, and he got jealous," Bertha laughed, walking passed the uneasy pair.  
"Um…I don't think I want to get on her bad side then," Alexa said tensely. Ryder shakes his head, agreeing with her. The two continued their way towards Vientown. They eventually entered the base.

_At the base…_

"Here's the basic synopsis," Alexa began. "We saw a red machine emitting a terrifyingly ear-piercing noise inside the cave, which made Pokémon go crazy. But the weirdest thing is the Pokémon couldn't be befriended with my styler."  
"That's certainly strange," Barlow commented. Alexa took and looked at her styler.  
"I know the styler's not defective," Alexa continued. "It managed to capture a Glameow, Nosepass and a Gastrodon today."  
"Then the machine's to blame then," Barlow deducted. "Even so, it's mission clear, Alexa. You did well."  
"Thanks, Barlow," Alexa thanked, putting her styler away.  
"And I'm not wasting time. Alexa, I'm promoting you to Ranger Rank 1," Barlow added.  
_I'll have to give myself a PRRRROMOTION!_ Ryder smiled comically as he swung his left arm across him. He eventually pointed up. Alexa buried her face in her right hand.  
"Not that again, Ryder…!" she sighed. Ryder looked up at her and sniggered.  
"What did he do?" Barlow asked.  
"It's something he's seen on YouTube. One time too many." Barlow laughed.  
"I love that joke," he commented. Ryder sniggered to himself again. Little Tim entered the base, looking panicky.  
"Um…I was wondering if someone would help me," he said nervously. Alexa and Ryder faced him.  
"Sure, we can help. What seems to be the problem?" Alexa asked. Little Tim faced her.  
"Well, see, it's our Miltank," he began. "The missus had to go out on an errand, so she asked me to look after the Miltank. I'm deathly afraid of Pokémon, and the Miltank is agitated, so…"  
"Say no more, Alexa has it under control," Barlow began. Alexa and Ryder faced him. "Alexa, these sorts of missions – where citizens ask us Rangers for help – is what is known as a Quest," he continued. "It's not really something we take on as a proper mission."  
"Got it, thanks for the info," Alexa thanked gratifyingly. She and Ryder faced Little Tim again. "Can you show us where your Miltank is?"  
"Ayup, I knew I could count on you," Little Tim said with relief. "She's over on the farm." He escorted Alexa and Ryder out of the base.

Outside the farmyard, Little Tim, Alexa and Ryder approached a fence and observed the angry Miltank.  
"What's gotten her so worked up?" Alexa asked.  
"Well, Big Bertha's asked me to milk her, but she won't calm down," Little Tim answered nervously. "And you know I'm deathly afraid of Pokémon…"  
"I think it's time she got acquainted with my styler and its capture disc," Alexa smiled, hopping over the fence. Ryder followed her.  
"MIL MIIIIIIL!" Miltank rolled up into a ball and charged towards Alexa. She cartwheeled away in one direction whilst Ryder leapt away in the opposite direction.  
"That's a fast Rollout attack," Alexa commented. "She really IS agitated!" She stood up and readied her styler "Capture-"

**BUMP!**

"Aaaaagh!" Miltank crashed into Alexa with another Rollout attack. She crashed into the silo's ladder. Ryder looked towards the silo after he stood up.  
_Alex! Are you okay?!_ He asked in horror.  
"Miltank, calm down!" Little Tim shouted nervously. Alexa strained onto her feet, but she soon flinched. She instantly placed her right hand on her left shoulder, which was what hit the silo first. She also appeared to be limping, as her right knee appeared to be bruised.  
"Okay…no more Miss Nice Ranger…!" she hissed. "Capture on!" she fumed. She released the capture disc from her styler and it circled the angry Miltank. Miltank stopped in its tracks and looked around in a panicky fashion. The white ring soon took effect and Miltank calmed down as soon as the ring embodied her. Alexa relaxed and leant against the silo, holding her left shoulder whilst keeping her right knee limp. Ryder ran over to her with concern.  
"You alright, Alexa?!" Little Tim asked. Alexa faced him.  
"I've had worse, but I'm fine!" she called back. Alexa slowly made her way over to the fence. She slowly climbed over it, being careful not to further damage her knee. Ryder hopped over the fence as well.  
"Thank you, Alexa. I'm mighty sorry our Miltank attacked you like that," Little Tim apologised.  
"Still, it's better than falling down the stairs in my opinion," Alexa said politely. "But, yeah; Miltank will be just fine now, sweet as a nut."

_A slow trek later…_

Ryder entered the base, as did Alexa, who limped her way into the reception area. Crawford had now returned, with the strange machine dumped on the floor.  
"Alexa, what happened?!" Luana asked out of shock. "Are you alright?!"  
"I will be, yeah," Alexa replied. "Whoa!" Alex's left ankle gave way, causing her to fall. Barlow managed to catch her and he sat her down on the nearby chair.  
"That Miltank was troublesome, wasn't it?" he asked.  
"Rollout," Alexa answered simply. "Aagh!"  
"Sorry, sorry…! I'm just looking at your knee," Barlow said in defence.  
"Miltank did that?" Elaine asked in confusion. "She must've been agitated!"  
"No joke, given her power," Alexa replied. "Why do I get the feeling my knee's dislocated?"  
"Probably is, I think," Barlow assumed. "But only slightly; it looks different compared to your left."  
"If that's the case, it needs to be popped back into place," Crawford suggested. Barlow stood up and faced him. Ryder moved into where Barlow once was.  
"And just who do you suggest would be able to-"

"AAAAAOOW!" Alexa shrieked in agony. Everyone else faced Ryder; he relocated Alexa's knee himself.  
"Need I say more?" Crawford asked playfully. Alexa recovered from the pain and bent her right leg slowly.  
"Doesn't hurt so much anymore," she commented. "The only thing about it that hurts is the actual bruise itself. Thanks, Ryder!" Ryder smiled.

_The next day…_

Alexa – now fully recovered from yesterday's uncalled for assault – and Ryder entered the main reception area.  
"Save the good morning stuff!" Barlow exclaimed suddenly. The exclamation startled Alexa and Ryder. "The Vien Forest is on fire!"  
"What?! How did that happen?!" Alexa asked in horror.  
"We don't know, but that's what Crawford is trying to find out," Barlow began on a slightly calmer tone. "Where's Luana?" Luana enters the reception area.  
"Morning! Hey, who's burnt their toast?" she asked innocently.  
"Not the time or place, Luana," Alexa sighed.  
"Nobody's burnt their toast, the Vien Forest is on fire," Barlow replied.  
"Oh no! We need to do something!" Luana exclaimed.  
"Alexa, I want you and Luana to help Crawford out in the forest," Barlow instructed. "Remember, your safety comes first; if you do anything dangerous, you'll have to answer to me."  
"Got it. Let's go, Alexa!" Luana ran out of the base. Alexa and Ryder were startled.  
"Hey, wait for us!" Alexa shouted, giving chase. Ryder followed her.

_In the forest…_

"Gosh, this is terrible!" Luana exclaimed in horror.  
"I feel sorry for the Pokémon here," Alexa began. "Where's Crawford?" she asked.  
"He must be further on," Luana guessed. "Let's hurry!" She, Alexa and Ryder ran towards a deeper part of the forest.  
In the second area of the forest, the flames were more intense and the temperature was almost unbearable. Alexa started coughing.  
"There's too much fire here, it's getting dangerous!" Luana exclaimed. Alexa, with her hands over her nose and mouth, squinted at her.  
"Then this must be where the source is!" she replied. "The fire has yet to spread further, so let's make sure it doesn't!" she coughed.  
"I think Crawford's not too far from here, let's go!" Luana encouraged. Alexa removed her hands from her face and she and Ryder followed Luana. Eventually, they met up with Crawford.  
"Alex, Luana! I'm glad you're here," he began. "My styler's going out of control in this heat! I need you two to capture a Blastoise for its Rain Dance."  
"Say no more, we understand," Alexa complied. "Luana, let's hurry!"  
"But we don't know where we can find a Blastoise!" Luana protested.  
"Try the waterfront," Alexa sighed. "Let's just go!" she exclaimed, running towards the west, with Ryder following closely. Luana gave chase.

_At the waterfront…_

Alexa and Luana managed to find a lone Blastoise wandering around by the river's edge.  
"How do we go about capturing it?" Luana asked.  
"Easy; I'll get it's attention and you capture it from here," Alexa answered. "Just stay here until I say so." She snuck out of the bushes and snuck towards the Blastoise. She tried to knock on its shell, but the Blastoise – being in a foul mood – whacked Alexa away before she could get close.  
"AAAAGH!" Alexa crashed into the ground beneath her. The Blastoise turned away from her and minded its own business again.  
"Should I catch it now?" Luana asked. Ryder ran out of the bushes and helped Alexa onto her feet.  
"Yeah, sure…whatever," Alexa sighed. Luana used her styler to release her capture disc. The disc circled the Blastoise and eventually captured it. Alexa rubbed her right cheek.  
"I don't think Blastoise did too much damage," she began. "It felt more like a faint slap if anything, but hitting the ground was painful."  
_Whew, that's good to hear,_ Ryder sighed with relief.  
"Okay, let's go back to Crawford!" Luana said enthusiastically. Alexa, Ryder, Luana and Blastoise made their way out of the waterfront.

_In the forest…_

"Hey, you caught a Blastoise!" Crawford observed, having noticed Alexa, Luana, Ryder and the Blastoise making their way over to him. "Okay, now we need to have it use Rain Dance."  
"Got it. Blastoise, use Rain Dance," Luana instructed. Blastoise fired two balls of water from its cannons into the sky. The clouds gathered and darkened, and rain soon fell over the flaming forest. As the rain stopped, so had the forest fire. Blastoise then made its way back to the waterfront.  
"Okay, I think that's mission clear," Crawford began. "Let's go back to base." He, Luana, Alexa and Ryder prepared to leave, but Crawford and Luana heard something odd; they turned around and found a red-haired young man in a blue and white striped t-shirt and blue trousers.  
"Aah!" the man yelped as he fled from the scene. Luana and Crawford gave chase, much to Alexa's confusion. She and Ryder followed the other two and found them surrounding the scared man.  
"Um, what're you two doing?" Alexa asked.  
"He reeks of oil," Crawford answered. "He may know something, so we'll take him back to base."  
"If you say so, Crawford," Alexa sighed. Luana and Crawford walked passed Alexa and Ryder with the oil-stained man in tow. "That man may know something, but I doubt he'll know what the machines are," Alexa said, after Crawford and Luana are gone. "If he knew how to set the machine up properly, the Vien Forest wouldn't have been on fire. Anyway, let's head back to base." She and Ryder then left the forest slowly.

_Later…_

Alexa and Ryder entered the base. They find the oil-stained man standing in the corner.  
"Haven't you done talking to him yet?" Alexa asked.  
"He won't say a word," Crawford sighed. "So we're keeping him here until he talks." Alexa faced him.  
"Isn't that a little harsh?" she asked. "He doesn't look like a criminal."  
"Don't be deceived, Alexa," Barlow warned. "He had burns – which Elaine treated – and is still smells of oil. He knows something we don't."  
"But even so, he- oh I give up," Alexa sighed. "I don't have the energy to debate today."  
"That doesn't matter now," Barlow began. "I'm promoting you to Ranger Rank 2; the forest fire must've been unbearable."  
"I'm just glad the whole thing's over. Thanks, Barlow," Alexa said gratefully. She squinted at Ryder. "Don't even think about it…" Ryder sniggered.

_The next day…_

Alexa and Ryder were en route to Vien Forest, but a familiar-looking man with a walking stick and a white lab coat intercepted them.  
"Oh, it's you from the one-day internship," the man commented, having just recognised Alexa.  
"You must be Professor Hastings, am I right?" she guessed.  
"Yes, that's me," he confirmed. "What a joke; they put up a barricade over on Lookout Ridge! That was nothing a swift kick couldn't handle."  
"Kicking things can be fun," Alexa said quietly.  
"Anyway, let us make way to the Ranger base, post haste," Professor Hastings suggested. He, Alexa and Ryder made their way to the base.

_Inside…_

"So this is the strange machine you called about, eh?" Professor Hastings assumed, making his way to the dismantled machine. "Eh? I've seen something like this on my way here…where was that now? Oh, yes! In Pueltown!" he exclaimed. "I mistook them for mailboxes, but obviously I was wrong."  
"So they're in Pueltown too?" Barlow asked.  
"That can't be good then," Alexa began. "If they caused problems in the Marine Cave, I'd hate to think of the trouble they'd cause in Pueltown."  
"Exactly. Alexa, Luana, I want you two to go to Pueltown and investigate these strange machines," Barlow instructed.  
"Roger!" Alexa and Luana complied as they and Ryder ran out of the base.

_To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six - The Plot Thickens! The Enemy Revealed!**

Alexa, Ryder and Luana raced across the Vien Forest, quickly approaching the Lookout Ridge. Luana stopped and moved over to the edge of the hill.  
"The view here is fantastic," she commented.  
"Luana, we're supposed to be going to Pueltown," Alexa sighed. "You know, to check out what shenanigans are afoot?" Luana took a deep breath.  
"TALK OLLIE!" she bellowed. The sudden shouting caused Alexa and Ryder to yelp with fright.  
_Bloody hell, that scared me half to death!_ Ryder exclaimed.  
"What the hell was that for?!" Alexa asked. Luana faced her.  
"It makes you feel good," she began. "You should shout something, Alexa."  
"What would I shout about?" Alexa asked.  
"Anything that's bothering you," Luana answered. "Come on, give it a go!" Alexa sighed as she approached the edge of the hill.  
"Just a quick one," she sighed. She took a deep breath. "HANG IN THERE, KEITH!" she hollered. "Okay, let's go," she said abruptly, running towards the southwest with Ryder. Luana faced her in confusion, but followed Alexa and Ryder regardless.

_In Pueltown…_

**NIRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**

"Argh, there's that noise again!" Alexa exclaimed, covering her ears like she did in Marine Cave. Ryder covered his ears too.  
"This is what you heard in the Marine Cave?" Luana asked.  
"It's better here since we're out in the open," Alexa commented. "Anyway, where do we begin?"  
"Hey, there, Rangers," greeted a male voice. A red haired man with a green t-shirt, blue shorts and sandals approached Alexa and Luana.  
"Oh, hi there, Brook," Luana replied. "Do you know what's going on here?" she asked.  
"Well, I saw a bunch of shady characters carrying those things around," Brook began, looking towards a red machine, identical to the one from Marine Cave. "Next thing you know, the town's Pokémon started acting crazy."  
"Like in Marine Cave," Alexa whispered towards Ryder. Ryder nodded.  
_Seems like this dodgy business is more serious than we thought,_ he assumed.  
"Looks like we'll have to destroy those machines," Luana began. "Alexa, how did you destroy the red one?"  
"Crawford and I decided to get a Gastrodon to shoot water at it," Alexa responded. "Maybe if we can find another Pokémon capable of the same thing, we can destroy that one."  
"I think I saw a Bibarel outside the town," Luana said happily. "I'll go catch it," she volunteered, running out of the town.  
"Are you new?" Brook asked towards Alexa. She and Ryder faced him.  
"Yeah, we're the new rookies at Vientown," Alexa began. "My name's Alex, and this is my partner, Ryder."  
_Nice to meet you,_ Ryder smiled.  
"The name's Brook, nice to meet you," Brook replied. "Alex…interesting name. Is it short for something?"  
"It's actually Alexa, but that's just the formality," Alex replied.  
"Alexa. It's a nice name, it suits you," Brook complimented. "Mind if I call you that?"  
"Coming from you, it doesn't feel so formal, so be my guest," Alexa laughed. Luana returned with a Bibarel at her side.  
"Okay, now what do I do?" Luana asked. Alexa faced her.  
"Simple; we get to the red machine and use Bibarel's water to destroy it," Alexa answered. She and Luana ran towards the red machine, but a hypnotised-looking Growlithe intercepted Alexa and Ryder. Alexa seemed hesitant to capture it; it wouldn't be befriended.  
"Okay, Bibarel," Luana began. "Soak it!" Bibarel fired a ball of water from its mouth and it destroyed the machine. The noise ceased as the Pokémon gained their senses.  
"Capture on!" Alexa instantly released her capture disc from her styler, which circled around the bewildered Growlithe. In a matter of seconds, the Growlithe was captured. "And complete!"  
"Should we check out the rest of the town?" Luana asked. Alexa and Ryder walked over to her.  
"Why are you asking me? You're the more senior out of the two of us," Alexa stated. "Anyway, I think we should."  
"Okay, let's go to the west then," Luana suggested. She, Alexa and Ryder ran up the stairs and went to the western side of the town. At the same time, two men, dressed completely in black barring a purple logo on the front of their shirts, walked across the bridge.  
"Geez, moving that thing was hard work!" the first one complained. "It took four of us to move it! And even then that was an effort!"  
"Quit complaining, at least the job's done," the second one sighed.

_Meanwhile…_

"Oh, snap, not here too!" Alexa complained.

**NIRRRRRRRRR!**

There was another machine creating the ear-piercing noise, making the Pokémon in the town confused. This machine, however, was green.  
"Huh? It's green instead of red," Luana commented.  
"I can't see the relevance in having the same machines with differing colours," Alexa began. "Unless…hmm…"  
"What's on your mind, Alexa?" Luana asked.  
"The red one was destroyed by water," Alexa muttered to herself. "What's the connection…? Red…beaten by water…like fire…fire is weak against water… That must be it!"  
"What's it?" Luana asked.  
"The red machine was destroyed with water, therefore, if what I'm thinking is accurate," Alexa began. "Then fire will destroy the green one!"  
"If you say so," Luana began. "It's worth a try, since you have Growlithe with you."  
"Let's go, Growlithe, burn that machine to the ground!" Alexa exclaimed excitedly. The Growlithe ran over to the green machine.  
"GROWWWWWWWWLITHE!" Growlithe shot out a burst of fire from its mouth. This destroyed the green machine. Growlithe left after the deed was done.  
"I knew it!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"Knew what?" Luana asked in confusion.  
"Can't you see a connection? The red one was destroyed by water, the green one just got destroyed by fire; don't you get it? Elementals!" Alexa replied.  
"Elementals?"  
"Yes! Think of it this way," Alexa continued. "Fire type Pokémon are weak against water types, yes? That's how the red machine came to fall at Bibarel's water bubble! And grass types are weak against fire, therefore the green machine stood no chance against Growlithe!"  
"I don't see why whoever made these would-"  
"It's simple, really," Alexa interrupted. "Whoever made these obviously wants them to stick around! One would expect these machines to have a short life expectancy if they all had the same weaknesses, so they obviously gave certain machines different weaknesses to catch people off guard, making them think that they can all be destroyed in the same manner because they'd assume that the machines just have different paint jobs!"  
"Wow, you know a lot about this stuff, Alexa!" Luana complimented. "Nice deduction!"  
"Actually, it's elementary, my dear Luana," Alexa teased.  
_Literally elementary,_ Ryder sniggered.  
"Let's see if there're any more machines on the east side of the town," Luana suggested. She, Alexa and Ryder left the area.

In the eastern side of town, Luana and Alexa found Melody trapped in a circle of running Pokémon. They witnessed Brook getting himself caught up in the same situation by jumping into the ring.  
"Okay, that was stupid," Alexa sighed. "We need to destroy that machine, pronto."  
"But we'll need a fire type Pokémon," Luana began. "We need to go-"  
"Screw that, let's just push it over," Alexa randomly suggested abruptly. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? They're heavy as anything, so they'll break when they fall!"  
"O-kay…" Luana was left somewhat bewildered as she followed Alexa to another green machine. Alexa backed herself against the wall and started pushing the machine with her feet. Luana did the same thing, but Ryder pushed it manually. Ryder then got his feet on the wall and tried to expand his legs. Eventually, the three of them combined managed to push the machine over and it got destroyed upon contact with the ground beneath it.  
"Ow…that hurt a bit, but it worked," Luana sighed with relief.  
"We had Ryder's muscle, that's what did it," Alexa laughed. "Hey, wait…Ryder, where did you touch the machine?" she asked.  
_Hm? Oh, I touched the base,_ Ryder answered.  
"Why'd you ask, Alexa?" Luana questioned.  
"Ryder had an electric shock from the one in Marine Cave," Alexa replied. "I think you touched the top part of the machine that time, didn't you, Ryder?" she asked him. Ryder nodded in confirmation. "Then there's more to these things than what meets the eye…"  
"Thanks, Alexa, we owe you one," Brook said, approaching her and Luana with Melody.  
"Hey, you're Isaac's little sister, aren't you?" Alexa queried. "Melody, isn't it?"  
"Nice to see you again, Alex," Melody greeted. "Thank you for helping us," she thanked.  
"I'm glad we could help out," Alexa smiled. She sighs as she looks around. "Where do these machines keep coming from?"  
"Last I saw," Brook began. "They went towards the harbour. The shady characters, I mean."  
"Thanks, Brook, Alexa and I will get on it," Luana stated.  
"Yeah, I fancy drawing circles around them," Alexa said sneakily. She, Luana and Ryder ran to the south of the town.

"Aw, snap!" Alexa complained. A blue machine was in operation, and a group of hypnotised Pokémon were blocking their way.  
"A blue one?" Luana questioned.  
"Try an electric attack," Alexa suggested. "There's at least one Elekid back where we helped Brook and Melody."  
"Okay, I'll go get one," Luana volunteered, running back up the steps from whence they came.  
"Okay, Ryder, let's try knocking this thing down like last time," Alexa suggested. Alex leant against the wall and pressed her feet against the machine. Ryder tried to assist, but he rested his paws on the top part of the machine, causing the same electric shock reaction as in Marine Cave. Ryder instantly let go before he got hurt. Alexa sighed as she stood back up properly. Luana returned with a befriended Elekid.  
"I've got Elekid, Alexa. Elekid, electrify that machine!" Luana exclaimed.  
"ELEBEEEE!" Elekid unleashed a thunderbolt on the machine, causing it to explode. The Pokémon, once the machine was destroyed, all scattered, with their senses returned. Elekid left, with the job done.  
"Water conducts electricity better than air," Alexa prophesised. "Now let's see who's behind all this." She, Luana and Ryder ran towards the harbour.

They ran towards the port, but they instantly hid after entering that part of the harbour. They saw four guys dressed in black and a red haired man, dressed in a black jacket and black trousers – unlike the lesser-looking men, who were all wearing leotards – standing by the pier with a hypnotised Toxicroak and an active yellow machine.  
"A yellow one?" Luana whispered.  
"I think that one would be destroyed by something like Nosepass," Alexa whispered in response. "But shh; they're talking about something…"  
"Sir, we've received words that the other Gigaremo units have been destroyed," one of the leotard men began.  
"There's also word that there're Pokémon Rangers are involved," a second man continued. The red haired man didn't look too happy.  
"Gigaremo unit?" Luana asked quietly.  
"That must be what they dubbed the colour-coded ear-piercing noise makers," Alex whispered.  
"We should ask them what they're up to," Luana suggested.  
"Oh, yeah, let's walk aimlessly out in the open and say 'excuse me, can you tell us why you're hypnotising the town's Pokémon?' and get our asses handed to us," Alexa whispered sarcastically. "That'll work a treat…! We should just confront them instead."  
"Either way, let's face up to them. Ready?" Luana asked. Alex sighs.  
"Sure, let's find out who we're dealing with," Alexa agreed. She, Ryder and Luana ran into the open and confront the five men.  
"Excuse me, what are you doing? And what's that machine for?" Luana asked innocently. Alexa and Ryder buried their faces in their right hand/paw.  
"Yeah, like they'd take that seriously," Alexa whispered.  
_We're doomed,_ Ryder sighed.  
"Oh, we're Team Dim Sun and this is a Gigaremo unit," one of the leotard men began. "We're using it to hypnotise the Pokémon in this town."  
"Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, who asked you to reveal our plans?!" the red haired man scolded.  
"Huh? I thought I was being helpful, they took advantage of that!" the leotard man wailed.  
"Last I checked, I wasn't willing to know the answer," Alexa sighed. "Either way, your train stops here, boys!"  
"I don't think so," the red haired man began. "Rattatas, attack them!" Four hypnotised Rattatas ran over to Luana and Alex and they attacked.  
"Capture on!" Alexa and Luana exclaimed, releasing their capture discs from their stylers. The stylers circled around the four rat Pokémon, but the capture line kept getting interrupted. One of the Rattata charged towards Luana.  
"Move!" Alexa shouted, pulling Luana away from the Rattata's attack. Luana aimed her capture disc at the fatigued Rattata while Alexa managed to capture the remaining three. Once the last Rattata was captured, they were all instantly released without question.  
"You may have beaten the Rattata," the red haired man began. "But Toxicroak will put you two Rangers in your place."  
The Toxicroak moved over to the two Rangers and prepared to attack. Luana, Alexa and Ryder were backed up against the large crates behind them.  
"Well, I don't think we can escape from this one," Alexa commented. "Time to draw circles around this froggy!"  
"Are you sure we can handle something like that?" Luana asked. Alexa readied her styler.  
"Well I've faced something bigger than that bipedal frog," Alexa began in response. "If anything, this will be slightly harder. Emphasis on slightly. Capture on!" Alexa yelled, releasing her capture disc.  
The capture disc circled around Toxicroak, but it managed to break the line. Ryder created an Aura Sphere and fired it at the capture disc; the disc took the hit and it stayed intact. The capture line changed from white to red. Alexa was left astonished.  
"Hey, that's Ryder's Pokémon Assist ability," Luana observed. "Now your capture disc is doubled in power!"  
"Wow. Thanks, Ryder!" Alexa said gratifyingly. Ryder nodded at her with a smile. Alexa controlled her capture disc carefully, not wasting Ryder's efforts. In a matter of a minute, the Toxicroak was successfully captured.

"And with that, it's capture complete! See, you guys aren't at the top of your game!" Alexa taunted.  
"I don't think they would be, Alexa, we've only just met them," Luana commented. Alex faced her.  
"Even so, they could've put up a more reputable performance that that," Alexa laughed.  
"It's no good," the red haired man began. "We'll have to retreat. You four carry the last Gigaremo unit; it's heavy, but your punishment will be heavier still!" he ordered. The four men deactivated and carried – with great difficulty – the Gigaremo unit and fled with their higher-up. Alexa, Luana and Ryder raced towards the end of the port, but were unable to catch up to the evil group.  
"Aw, they got away!" Luana complained. "And we couldn't destroy that Gigaremo unit either."  
"Still, at least we know who we're dealing with," Alexa remarked. "Team Dim Sun…I wonder what they're planning…?"  
"Let's report back at Vientown," Luana suggested. She, Alexa and Ryder left the harbour.

_At Vientown…_

"And then they escaped by boat," Alexa concluded. "Alas, we still know very little about what's going on, but at least we have a name for these guys; Team Dim Sun."  
"I wish we could have caught them," Luana sighed.  
"Don't be too hard on yourselves," Barlow began. "You two did well for a 2nd year and a rookie; it's mission clear."  
"Thanks, Barlow," Alexa said with gratitude.  
"And I'll let you knock off early as well," Barlow added. Alexa and Ryder were astonished.  
"How come?" Alexa asked.  
"You did a great job today," Barlow replied. "And if I recall correctly, was it not your deduction that allowed you to figure out the secret behind the Giaremas?"  
"Gigaremo," Alexa corrected. "But, yeah, it was, sort of."  
"Giarema, Gigaremo, whatever, you know what I mean," Barlow fussed. "By the way, Alexa, you've got mail."  
"Mail? Haven't had that in ages," Alexa said in astonishment. Barlow gave her an A4 sized envelope. "Thanks."  
"But do us all a favour and don't read it in front of us," Barlow teased. Alexa mimicked sarcastic laughter as she and Ryder made their way out of the base.

_At Vien Forest…_

Alexa and Ryder were relaxing at a small lake-like pond area. Ryder had his feet in the water and looked very tranquil. Alexa looked at her envelope curiously.  
"It doesn't say where it's from," she began. "And I don't recognise the handwriting either. Who's it from?" Ryder opened his eyes, slightly turned his head towards her.  
_Well you aren't going to find out if you keep staring at it, are you?_ He asked teasingly.  
"Alright, alright, I'll open it already, geez," Alexa laughed. She tore the envelope open and pulled the letter out. She was astonished at the letter's author. "It's from Keith!" Surprised, Ryder got his feet out of the water and went behind Alexa to read the letter over her shoulder.

_Alex,_

_It's Keith. How're you doing at Vientown? I got stationed at Ring Town in Fiore. I wish I could see the look on your face when you found out this is from me; it must've been priceless, I bet! Anyway, are you doing alright? I know you were upset when Rhythmi and I left for Fiore._

_Anyway, I've been making something of a name for myself. I recently stopped a Gyarados from rampaging, it was epic! I wish you could've seen it. You'll probably hear about it in tomorrow's paper over there, but I wanted to tell you in advance because you're my best friend. Speaking of which, have you found yourself a partner Pokémon yet? I have; Buizel. I know he and I will become a great combination, just like you and whoever your partner Pokémon is or will be._

_Oh, by the way, I've taken the liberty of sending you something to hopefully make you feel stronger. It's enclosed, but take a look at it after reading this; I hope it'll make you feel better. I could tell that you were upset on the pier that day, and that had me concerned for you. But remember the promise we made before we said our see you laters – not goodbyes – and you'll hopefully be alright. Just looking out for you, that's all. Oh, yeah, one more thing; sorry for calling you weird on your first day. My bad._

_So, yeah. See you later._

_Keith._

Alexa, after reading every word on the page, looked at the letter with a warm smile. Ryder looked at the piece of paper in the same way.  
"Keith…you took the trouble of writing to let me know you're okay," Alexa said quietly. "Truly he's a best friend for life… What did he mean by 'something to hopefully make me feel stronger'?" She took out something else from the envelope and looked at what it bore, with shock at first, but then with a warm smile; it was a portrait A4 photograph of Keith outside a Fiore Ranger base with his partner Pokémon, Buizel.  
Ryder appeared to like the photograph as well. He squinted at the ending of the letter before looking back at Alexa.  
_Methinks he was a tad nervous when he wrote this letter,_ he smirked. Alexa faced him in confusion.  
"Nervous? How do you mean he was nervous?" she asked. Ryder pointed to a specific line; 'So, yeah. See you later'. Alexa looked at the line and gave off a small laugh. "I see your point. I think we should send Keith a reply to let him know we're okay. And partnered up. What do you think?" Ryder nodded to confirm his approval for the idea. "Okay, I just need to make a call, ask if anyone has a camera and we'll be set."

_Later…_

Alexa and Ryder exited the Ranger base in Vientown and met up with a Pidgeot. Alexa gave the Pidgeot an A4 sized letter, bound for Ring Town in Fiore. The Pidgeot took the letter in its beak. The Pidgeot then flew away from the town and towards the sea.  
"Well, it's up to Falcon now," Alexa sighed. "I know he'll get the letter, though; Falcon's very reliable when it comes to this sort of thing." Ryder nodded in agreement.

_Later still, in Ring Town…_

"Whew, I'm beat!" Keith sighed as he entered the base. Buizel followed on closely, also looking exhausted. "What was that big bird Pokémon doing flying away from the base?"  
"Oh, that was a Pidgeot," replied the base leader. "It came by to drop this off; it's addressed to you, kid." The leader presented Keith with the letter. Keith took it and then made his way to his room.

In his room, Keith and Buizel sat down on the bed. Keith looked at the letter curiously before opening the envelope. He pulled out the first sheet of paper, turning out to be the letter itself. He was shocked about the author.  
"Alex replied!" he exclaimed. Buizel climbed up onto Keith's shoulder to read the letter along with him.

_Keith,_

_It's me, Alexa. As you may have already guessed from reading my name alone, I got your letter. This afternoon, in fact. If I was supposed to have received it earlier, I apologise; Luana and I were investigating some stuff in Pueltown. But I'll save that story for later. I was deeply shocked that you sent me a letter, but it made me feel better knowing that you're doing well in Fiore. Keep up the good work, Ranger Keith!_

_You asked me if I have a partner Pokémon yet; I do, but I'll let the enclosed reveal that for me, no spoilers in this letter, no sir. And congrats on the Gyarados; they're incredibly vicious Pokémon, and that's when they're not angry; I'll look forward to hearing about it whenever Almia picks up the news. You also asked me how I'm doing in Vientown, if I recall correctly – and I do, since I have your letter next to me as I write this – so I shall answer that in the form of a paragraph long synopsis._

_After getting into my gear and socialising with the locals via my first mission – a "paper round", as Crawford described it – we investigated the Marine Cave – you probably won't know it, since the tide was up during the one-day internship – and found a disturbing machine that makes Pokémon unable to be befriended and loopy. After that, I had something of a hard time calming down Little Tim's Miltank. But she calmed down, no worries there. An accident caused the Vien Forest to be set on fire, but Blastoise cured that like the common cold. And then that brings us to what I said about Pueltown. Luana and I found more hypnotising machines and the scum what put them there. Unfortunately, they escaped after I captured the Toxicroak they set on Luana and myself. Barlow says there's no need to worry, but I still can't fathom what Team Dim Sun are planning. And I'm not going to try, I'm in too good a mood to worry about the scum what invented those stupid colour-coded ear-piercing noise makers they call the Gigaremo!_

_And that's everything I've done thus far in my Ranger career. But despite all of that, hearing from you was the highlight of my day today. My partner Pokémon thought so too, so we decided to let you know that we're okay. I hope everyone at your base is treating you right; if they're not, let me know and I'll come over there and smack whoever's giving you a hard time. But, yeah, I really felt flattered that you took the time to let me know you're alright. You have no idea how happy I was after we finished reading the letter. And I'll never forget what you said to me just before you went too far out to sea; stay strong… I won't forget that advice…ever._

_I'm glad I got to hear from you, my friend. Thank you._

_Alexa._

_PS: If you want to reply to this, can you give me your honest opinion on the following; how do I look?_

"Eh? How do you look?" Keith pondered.  
"Bui," Buizel pointed at a particular sentence; 'I do, but I'll let the enclosed reveal that for me'. Keith put the letter to one side and took out the second item in the envelope. He looked at the photograph; Alexa and Ryder were striking a powerful-looking pose in front of the Vientown base. Keith blushed.  
"Uh…"

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven - New Faces! New Places! (Pt 1)**

_The next day…_

Alexa and Ryder entered the main reception and found the other Rangers gathered around. They also found Big Bertha in the area as well. Barlow faced the confused pair.  
"Ah, morning you two," he greeted. "Just in time; Big Bertha's here with some of her famous Milk Pudding." Ryder folded his arms and tilted his head while he bore a suspicious look on his face.  
_Pudding at this time of the morning? Isn't that a bit unhealthy?_ He questioned. _Like drinking beer with breakfast?_  
"Don't let the term pudding fool you, Ryder," Alexa began, having noticed Ryder's confusion. "A yoghurt is something of a pudding, but I don't mind having a pot in the morning if I fancy one. I don't see why this should be any different."  
"Here, eat up! There's plenty to go around," Big Bertha stated, handing out small plates out to everyone around her; the plates all had a stump shaped food item sitting on top and a spoon poking into the desert. Even Alexa and Ryder got one each. Ryder looked at his plate with curiosity.  
_What kind of milk went into this?_ He asked.  
"It wouldn't surprise me if the milk used for this is Miltank's," Alexa said to him. "Remember, they have a Miltank in their farmyard."  
"That's right, made with fresh Miltank milk," Big Bertha confirmed. "I see you know quality dairy foods when you see 'em!"  
"There's a Miltank Dairy farm in Johto," Alexa began, taking her spoon out of the desert. "That's how I know about Miltank milk." She put the spoon in her mouth. She soon took the spoon out of her mouth and sighed contentedly. "Oh, my God, that is so good! Now I know why these things are famous!"  
"Eat up, there's plenty more left," Big Bertha laughed. Ryder took the spoon out of his desert and ate the portion on the spoon. After swallowing, his eyes lit up and smiled happily.  
_Oh, my Arceus, this stuff is delicious!_ He exclaimed joyfully.  
"I know, they're fantastic!" Alexa agreed. She and Ryder continued to consume their respective deserts.  
"What's wrong, fella? You not hungry?" Big Bertha asked, towards the oil-stained man. Alexa and Ryder faced them in confusion. Alexa still had her spoon in her mouth, but she still held onto it.  
"That's Ollie," Barlow began. "He's a suspect until he talks," he explained bluntly. Alexa took the spoon out of her mouth and swallowed the desert portion the spoon once held.  
"I keep telling you, he is not a suspect," she sighed. "If he was, he would've managed to escape; he didn't try to flee, he probably just wanted to hide or something, that's all. By the way, where did the name Ollie come from?"  
"The fact that he's stained with oil," Crawford answered. "Other options were 'Oil-reeking-guy' or-"  
"Yeah, we kinda get the point now, Crawford," Alexa laughed.  
"I…it was my fault!" Ollie suddenly cried. This took Alexa and Ryder by surprise, but they weren't eating, luckily. "All I was told to do was to set up the Gigaremo unit in the forest! I thought it was a simple job that had high pay, but…the unit released a spark, and then the oil caught fire! Then the forest caught fire! I'm sorry!" he cried. Alexa and Ryder faced each other with suspicion.  
"Team Dim Sun again?" she whispered to him. Ryder nodded to confirm his suspicion.  
_So I guess we can say that he's not a suspect anymore then,_ he assumed quietly.  
"No, I don't think Ollie's a bad guy," Alexa whispered in response. "He doesn't look like the criminal type."

"Thank you, Ollie. At least we now know Team Dim Sun were behind the Gigaremo units in Marine Cave and Vien Forest," Barlow said politely. "You're free to go now."  
"I'm glad that's all over," Alexa began quietly. "And we're somewhat closer to finding out what Dim Sun are planning." She and Ryder, having finished their deserts, put their empty plates and spoons on the nearby table.  
"Alexa, can you and Ryder go patrol around in Chicole Village?" Barlow asked. "I don't want any Dim Sun guys poking their noses where they don't belong."  
"No problem, now that we're finished eating," Alexa complied. She and Ryder faced Big Bertha. "Thanks for the Milk Puddings, ma'am; better than any other Miltank milk food product I've ever had."  
"Always a pleasure, Alexa," Big Bertha began. "It's also my way of apologising for what happened the other day."  
"It's nothing, really," Alexa began modestly. "I've had worse in my time." She faced Ryder. "Let's get patrolling, shall we?" Ryder nodded as they left the base.

Alexa and Ryder exited the base and stretched; it was still rather early in the morning. Ollie exited the base as well.  
"Alexa, wait! Please?" he asked nervously. Alexa and Ryder faced him in confusion.  
"What's up, Ollie?" Alex asked politely.  
"My mo- friend lives in Chicole Village," Ollie began timidly. "Could you take me with you to Chicole Village please?"  
"Of course," Alexa replied. "Just stick with us, you'll be fine. By the way, it's nice to meet you."  
"N-nice to meet you too, Alexa," Ollie said nervously. The three of them walked southwards, down towards Chicole Village.

"So, um…where did you meet your partner Pokémon?" Ollie asked; although he was still a tad nervous, he was more curious than anything.  
"What, first time ever? Celestic Town," Alexa replied. "It's a nice and quiet little town in the Sinnoh region; that's where Ryder's egg hatched."  
"So, he's your Pokémon then?" Ollie asked.  
"If you want to get technical about it, I'm his Original Trainer," Alexa explained. "Or just OT for short. He evolved from Riolu at an early age, which makes him stronger than he looks today."  
"Elaine told me you found him on Nabiki Beach," Ollie began. "How did he get there?"  
"I don't know," Alexa sighed. "Ryder? Is anything coming back to you? About how you wound up on Nabiki Beach?" she asked him.  
_Sadly, nothing springs to mind,_ he sighed.  
"I think it's short term memory loss, because of the fact that he was at sea and washed up on Nabiki Beach. I hope we find out soon," Alexa sighed.  
"You may not want to know," Ollie assumed. "Because it might turn out that Ryder wasn't supposed to be here in Almia to begin with."  
"Maybe…but we won't know that until we find out," Alexa countered. "In the meantime, we're here." She, Ryder and Ollie entered a small village, which consisted of a mere four houses. They approached the southeastern house and Ollie entered the house, closely followed by Alexa and Ryder. Inside, they saw an older-looking brunette haired woman standing at the sink.

"Mom? I-I'm home," Ollie said feebly. "I-I'm sorry about everything. It's just that I can't get anything right and I always mess things up, and…I'm sorry…" The woman turned around to face Ollie, smiling warmly.  
"All I wanted to hear was 'I'm home'," she began kindly. "Not how you say you mess everything up. None of that matters to me. Welcome home, my son." Ollie faced Alexa, sighing.  
"I'm sorry, Alexa," he apologised. "It's my mom I wanted to see. Sorry I lied to you."  
"To be fair, Ollie, I kind of guessed that the friend you were referring to was your mother," Alexa replied. "So don't apologise; no harm done. Anyway, we'll leave you two to catch up then. See you soon, Ollie," she said, leaving the house with Ryder.  
"She's a nice young lady," Ollie's mother began. "But I've never seen her before; is she new?"  
"Elaine told me she's a recent graduate from the Ranger School," Ollie replied. "And, yeah; she's very nice."

Alexa and Ryder returned to the Vientown Ranger base. They found that Professor Hastings had arrived, and investigating the Gigaremo debris.  
"Oh! Professor Hastings, this is a surprise," Alexa stated. "What brings you here?"  
"Oh, I've been asked to take a look at this Gigaremo unit," Hastings replied. Elaine picked up a black rock from the debris.  
"What's this thing?" she pondered. "Maybe I should drill into it. Or maybe whack it with my hammer?"  
"Oh, no, no, no, no, don't do that," Hastings said hastily. "It may be very important!" Ryder snarled at the stone Elaine was holding.  
"Ryder, what's wrong?" Alexa asked.  
"Oh, is it this stone?" Elaine asked. She went over to Ryder and held out the stone in front of him.  
"Um, Elaine, I don't think holding it out to him is a good idea," Alexa said doubtfully.  
"Relax, it's just a stone," Crawford stated. "What harm can it do to Ryder?" Ryder cautiously moved his right paw to touch the stone. However, a powerful electric shock was released from the stone and pushed Ryder back. Elaine was taken aback and jumped with fright.  
"Ryder! Are you okay?" Alexa asked worriedly, helping the injured Lucario back onto his feet.  
_Ow…how stupid was that?_ Ryder complained.  
"This is disturbing," Hastings commented. "If that is merely a stone, it should not give off such a reaction. I'll take it back to the union for analysis. Barlow, I want you to come with me."  
"Yes, sir. Crawford, you'll be in charge while I'm gone," Barlow said towards Crawford. He and Hastings exited the base.  
"No problem, leader. Alex, you can take the rest of today off if you want to," Crawford said to Alexa.  
"I think Ryder needs the rest more than I do, but thanks, Crawford," Alexa said gratefully.  
"By the way," Luana began, walking towards Alexa with a newspaper. "Your friend Keith's making a name for himself. See?" Alexa and Ryder looked at the front page of the newspaper; it depicted a headline featuring Keith, his Buizel partner and a Pikachu friend Pokémon attempting to calm down a raging Gyarados. Alexa smiled.  
"Yeah, that's Keith alright," she laughed. "I'm really happy for him."  
"Oh, yeah, one more thing," Luana said abruptly, running over to the Operator desk. She picked up and ordinary sized envelope and ran back to Alexa. "This letter came for you. I think there's something in this one." She gave the envelope to Alexa, who found it to be rather lumpy in one corner.  
"I'll look into that. Thanks, Luana."

_Later…_

Alexa was in her violet pyjamas, sitting on her bed with the duvet pulled over her legs. She had a bedside lamp on so she could read the letter. Ryder sat next to her on her bed, so he could read the letter alongside her; he was holding the envelope, including whatever the lump was. Alexa unfolded a piece of paper and she and Ryder started reading.

_Alex,_

_It's great to hear from you. We should write to one another more often until we can talk face to face. So, Ryder's your partner Pokémon, huh? I should've figured as much; did it have something to do with what I told him? If so, thanks for looking after her, Ryder!_

_I guess you liked my photo then? I've got yours. At this point, I'm kind of nervous, so forgive me if what I write here makes no sense at all. You wanted my honest opinion on how you look in the photo – and this is why I'm nervous – so, um, here goes something… In all honesty, Alex, you're beautiful. The uniform suits you perfectly, and you look absolutely stunning. Oh, crap, I'm blushing now! Why do you have to be so pretty, Alex? Hahaha, just kidding with you!_

_Anyway, I've seen your Pueltown investigation in the paper this afternoon. Glad to see you've coped well, but I'm worried about you at the same time; if any one of those Dim Sun guys even looks at you the wrong way, I'll smack them right across the face. That is, unless Ryder beats me to the punch. Ha, I made a pun! I never even noticed! Anyway, Alex, I decided to send you a souvenir, which is enclosed in the envelope. It's from Summerland, where I completed my Gyarados heroics. Hope you like it._

_Take care, Alex. See you soon._

_Keith_

Ryder took out the lumpy thing from the envelope; it was a holographic Milotic keychain. He handed it over to Alexa and she looked at it admiringly. She made her bedside light shine on it spontaneously. She and Ryder looked up on the ceiling; they saw the keychain reflecting a rainbow-like lighting onto the ceiling.  
_Pretty! Y'know, Keith's not like anybody we've met before,_ he said happily. Alexa gave off a small laugh.  
"Yeah…Keith's great," Alexa began, admiring her souvenir. She suddenly frowned. "He…he actually cares enough to stay in touch…" Ryder rested his right paw on Alex's left as he smiled kindly towards her.  
_He's a special friend, isn't he?_ He asked softly.  
"You're right…I thought I had my friends during my travels, but…I guess I'm just learning what friendship really is…"

_The next day…_

Alexa and Ryder sleepily entered the main reception area of the base. Ryder yawned, politely holding his paw over his mouth. Alexa had her Milotic keychain attached to her shorts. Her styler suddenly picked up a transmission. She picked it up.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Alexa, it's me, Barlow," Barlow began. "Sorry to buzz you so early in the morning, but we want you to come over to the Ranger Union. See you." The transmission ended, leaving Alexa in shock.  
"Hey, wait a minute, you didn't tell me the directions!" she panicked.  
"That's easy," Crawford began. "Simply go to Pueltown like normal, and then go across the drawbridge. You'll end up in Altru Park. Once there, take the western exit and keep going until you find yourself in front of the Ranger union."  
"Thanks, Crawford," Alexa sighed happily.

_Later …_

Alexa and Ryder arrived at a tranquil-looking park. A large building – still partially under construction – stood before them at the other end of the park.  
"This must be Altru Park," Alexa assumed. "Crawford said the western exit, so that means we turn left."  
"Alex? Is that you?" asked a familiar-sounding voice. Isaac – now in laboratory attire – approached Alexa and Ryder. "Hey, it is you! It's me, Isaac!"  
"Isaac, hey! It's been a while, how're you doing?" Alexa asked happily.  
"Great! I've found my dream job with Altru Inc!" Isaac responded, rather proudly.  
"Altru Inc? I guess that's the big building behind you," Alexa guessed. Isaac turned around to face the tall building.  
"Yep, that's Altru Inc alright," he confirmed. "Come on; I'll give you a little tour." He, Alexa and Ryder headed towards the Altru building.

_Inside…_

"On the ground floor, we have exhibits on display for the tourists," Isaac began. "See, the ground floor is open to everyone, but everywhere else is prohibited to everyone apart from the staff."  
"That makes sense," Alexa began. "We don't want people poking their noses in where they don't belong."  
"Exactly," Isaac agreed, leading Alexa and Ryder to a wall, next to an elevator. There were 3 portraits hanging on the wall, each of them featured different-looking men. "These portraits feature Altru Inc's three presidents," Isaac continued. "The first is the founder, Doyle M. Hall. Next to it is of our second president, Brighton Hall. And the third is of out current president, Blake-"  
"Welcome back, Mr Hall," several voices greeted. Isaac, Alexa and Ryder faced the entrance and found a black haired man – dressed in black – and a green haired man dressed in a blue suit approaching the elevator.  
"Thank you. Now let's get back to work," the green haired man began, in a whiny sort of voice. "We don't want to displease our customers." The employees lined up by the elevator returned to their original posts. The black haired man noticed Isaac, Alexa and Ryder.  
"Hello, Professor Isaac," he greeted; his voice was somewhat deep in tone. "And who is your lovely young lady friend?" he asked. Ryder growled under his breath angrily.  
"Hello, Mr Hall," Isaac began. "This is my friend, Alexa, from the Pokémon Ranger School," he continued. "We graduated together, and I was just giving her a tour."  
"Ah, so you're the fabled Alexa," Blake commented towards Alexa.  
"Fabled?"  
"Professor Isaac has told me a lot about you," Blake explained, moving closer to Alexa. "He told me you and a friend of yours put up a remarkable display at graduation." Ryder continued to growl under his breath in anger.  
"Oh, h-he told you that? W-well, uh…someone had to deal with the situation," Alexa said quietly. Blake gently took her right hand. Ryder's growling intensified, but quietened, for some reason.  
"I do admire Pokémon Rangers," he began. "In a certain way, both the Ranger union and I myself at Altru Inc want peace for the people of Almia."  
"Uh…" Alexa appeared to be feeling somewhat uncomfortable about Blake holding onto her right hand.  
"Well, Professor Isaac, shall we get back to work?" Blake asked towards Isaac.  
"Yes sir," Isaac complied eagerly. Blake faced Alexa again.  
"Well, my dear Alexa, it has been a real pleasure meeting you," he said gratifyingly. He gently kissed Alexa's hand, which somewhat astonished Isaac, made Alexa feel even more uncomfortable – despite her blushing – and silently enraged Ryder even more. "I shall look forward to the day we will meet again." He and his associate made their way into the elevator.  
"See you around, Alex," Isaac said, heading into the elevator himself. Ryder's growling got louder.  
_What nerve! I can't believe anyone would do that to you!_ He fumed.  
"R-right…we still need to meet up with Barlow," Alexa said nervously. "Oh, God, I wonder what he'll think if I tell him about this…!" Her styler picked up a transmission, which she reluctantly answered.  
"Voicemail, Alexa, it's just me, Barlow," Barlow began. "Can you bring a Pokémon that can destroy a red Gizareno unit?"  
"Gigaremo," Alexa corrected nervously.  
"You know what I mean," Barlow laughed. "See you when you get here." He ended the transmission. In a panic, Alexa raced out of the building. Ryder chased after her, with his rage now subsided.

_Later on…_

Alexa, Ryder and a Bibarel raced into a different building. Alexa and Ryder were the only ones of the trio to be breathing heavily out of exhaustion.  
"You must be Alexa, right?" asked a dark purple haired male. "I'm Murph, nice to meet you."  
"Hi. Um, we're here because Barlow-" Alexa began.  
"Say no more, just follow me," Murph interrupted, leading Alexa, Ryder and the Bibarel up the escalator.

Murph led Alexa, Ryder and the Bibarel to meet up with Barlow and Professor Hastings. The room was large and empty, with what appeared to be a computer monitor in the floor. A green-haired female ranger stood in the background. There was a red Gigaremo unit in operation, but it was silent.  
"Hey, Alexa! What kept you?" Barlow asked out of curiosity. Alexa suddenly blushed and became nervous.  
"Um, uh…a-a friend of mine showed me around Altru Inc," she stuttered. "A-and I m-met the president, Blake Hall."  
Upon hearing the name, Blake Hall, Ryder instantly became angry and growled fiercely.  
"Whoa-ho, doesn't seem like your buddy likes the guy," Murph commented. Alexa faced Ryder.  
"Calm down, pal, no need to be so upset," she said calmly.  
"What's the matter?" Hastings asked.  
_That president guy had the nerve to kiss the back of Alex's hand!_ Ryder fumed.  
"Ryder…!" Alexa exclaimed with embarrassment.  
"I don't blame him," Barlow began. "You do look beautiful in that uniform." Alexa groaned.  
"Why are you rubbing it in…?!" she asked. "Bibarel, can you destroy that red thing?"  
"Bi…BAREL!" Bibarel shot out a ball of water from its mouth and it instantly destroyed the Gigaremo. Bibarel then left the room.  
"Right, as you've all just seen," Hastings began. "The Gigaremo units can be destroyed as demonstrated just a few seconds ago. Incidentally, has anyone noticed that the Gigaremo failed to hypnotise any Pokémon in the vicinity? May I draw your attention to underfoot." A blueprint of the Gigaremo unit was displayed underfoot. A picture of what appeared to be the black stone that shocked Ryder on three occasions. "As you can see, this stone was inside the machine when it was disassembled," Hastings continued. "What the stones are, I do not know. But, in the meantime, all we can do is destroy as many Gigaremo units as possible."  
"We Area Rangers will do everything we can to help out," Barlow stated willingly.  
"I'd like to ask the rookie a few questions, if that's alright," the green-haired ranger requested. Alexa and Ryder approached her.  
"Sure, what is it you want from me?" Alexa asked politely.  
"Just a few straight answers is all," the Ranger replied. "First question. The guys with the Gigaremo units. They call themselves Team Dim Sun?"  
"Yes."  
"And when they escaped, they left by boat?"  
"Yes."  
"And when the Gigaremo's are operational, the Pokémon affected couldn't be befriended?"  
"Yes, that's right."  
"Last question, Alexa. The newest Gigaremo unit; was it a yellow one?"  
"Yes."  
"That's all the questions I have. Thank you, Alexa."  
"You're welcome."

_The next day…_

"It was nice of the union to set us up for the night," Alex said to Ryder, as they travelled down the escalator, into the main reception area.  
"Morning, Alexa," Barlow greeted.  
"Morning, Barlow," Alexa greeted in return. Her holographic keychain shone in the sunlight. Barlow noticed it.  
"Nice little add-on you've got there," he complimented. "Where did you get that?" Alexa looked at her keychain; it was still attached to her shorts.  
"Oh, it's a souvenir from Keith," she replied. "All the way from Summerland in Fiore. Anyway, what's on the agenda today?"  
"We're heading back to Vientown," Barlow answered.  
"Okay. Shall we hustle?" Alexa asked playfully.  
"Let's hustle indeed."

_Later…_

Alexa, Barlow and Ryder were casually walking along the union road. The three seemed to be enjoying a friendly chat.

**RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!**

"Whoa! What was that?!" Alexa exclaimed in shock.  
"I'm not sure," Barlow answered. "It was just a tremor. We'll see if there's another one, then we'll investigate it."  
"Sounds fair," Alexa agreed.

_Not long afterwards…_

Alexa, Ryder and Barlow continued to walk along casually. This time, they were keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.

_RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!_

"Yaaargh! There it is again!" Alexa panicked. Barlow looked over to his left; he was facing a rather mountainous area.  
"They came from the Peril Cliffs," he confirmed. A man and a woman exited the nearby log cabin and approached the Rangers. Barlow noticed them. "You folks okay?"  
"There's something going on in those cliffs," the man began. "We've seen someone in a black leotard go into the cliffs."  
"Next thing you know, all of this happens," the woman continued. "What is going on over there?"  
"Don't worry, we'll investigate," Barlow reassured.  
"And we'll get to the bottom of it as well," Alexa added eagerly.  
"Please be careful," the man warned. "I have a bad feeling that the tremors will cause the cliff edges to become unstable."  
"We'll do our best, won't we, Alexa?" Barlow asked rhetorically.  
"Yep, we'll give it our best shot," she agreed.

_In the Peril Cliffs…_

Alexa, Barlow and Ryder – having climbed up a fair way up – walked along the mountain path and found the said leotard man; he had two Rampardos under hypnosis and a small box on a four-legged stand.  
"What's that thing in front of him?" Alexa asked.  
"Dunno, but it can't be good," Barlow stated. "Let's see if we can get to him."  
"Right," Alexa agreed. The two Rampardos – alternating – rammed into the wall in front of them with their hard skulls. The vibrations from the ramming caused Alex, Ryder and Barlow to almost lose their balances. They managed to find their footings, though. They all sighed with relief.  
"We need to get down there, fast," Barlow stated, starting to climb up the wall. Ryder and Alexa followed him.

Barlow, Alexa and Ryder managed to climb up to the next level up the cliffs. They continued walking along the mountain.

**RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!**

The vibrations seemed to be more intensified this time. Alexa, Barlow and Ryder had more difficulty maintaining their balance, but a fragment of the path broke off from underneath Alexa's feet.  
"Aaaagh!" she came close to falling down the cliff, but she managed to grab the ledge she stood on.

**RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!**

The segment of the ledge Alexa held onto broke off as a result of the vibrations.  
"Whaaaaaaaaaaah!" she screamed as she fell down the cliff.

_To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight - New Developments! A Mini Gigaremo?!**

"Aaaaaaaaaagh!" Alexa continued to fall down the side of the mountainous Peril Cliffs. However, she managed to grab hold of a rock platform and held onto it for dear life until she managed to climb onto it. She breathed heavily, relieved that she no longer had to fear death.  
"Alexa! Are you okay down there?!" Barlow shouted. Alexa looked up at him and Ryder.  
"I think so!" she shouted back. She saw Barlow throwing some rope down to her. He and Ryder held onto their end tightly.  
"Here, use that to climb back up! Ryder and I can hold it!" Barlow yelled. Alexa took the rope and prepared to climb back up.  
"Okay, I'll be as quick as I can!" she yelled back, starting to climb up the rope. She has her feet walked along the wall, which made it easier for her.  
"Almost there, Alexa! You're doing great!" Barlow encouraged.  
_There's no need to rush, Alex, Barlow and I can hold on!_ Ryder added.  
"Yeah, well, I'm still going to be as fast as I can!" Alexa replied, almost laughing. A Gligar charged towards her. Barlow noticed and tightened his grip.  
"Alexa, look out!" he shouted. However…

**CRASH!**

"Whaaa!" Alexa's feet slipped off of the wall as the Gligar flew passed her, and struck her across the face with the spike sticking out of its wing. Alexa's left cheek was exposed, which created an injury similar to the one she sustained at the Ranger School, but slightly worse; the cut was slightly deeper.  
"Alexa! You okay?!" Barlow asked, horrified at what he witnessed. Alexa looked up at him; blood was flowing out of her cut and down her face.  
"I will be!" she answered. She continued climbing up the rope, no longer using her feet to assist her. Gligar attempted to attack again; it seemed to be enjoying itself.  
"Watch out!" Barlow warned. Ryder was about to prepare an Aura Sphere, but stopped himself; he noticed Alexa turning – whilst holding the rope – to face Gligar. She took her Milotic keychain and twisted it at an angle to reflect the sun's light into Gligar's eyes.  
"GLIIIIII!" Gligar could no longer see its target, and thus struggled to maintain flight. The Gligar retreated, much to Alexa's relief. She then looked at her keychain; who knew that a gift from a friend would end up saving her from a delinquent Gligar? Alexa suddenly felt the rope being hoisted up the cliff side.

_Afterwards…_

Alexa took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. Her cut – on closer inspection – appeared to be bigger than it was before when compared to the cut she received when Ms April's classroom door slammed into her face. Using a clean rag, Barlow wiped the blood away from Alexa's cheek, occasionally causing her to flinch.  
"That Gligar did a number on that old cut of yours," he commented. "You sure you're going to be alright?"  
"I'll have to be if we want to get this investigation resolved," Alexa answered. Barlow – using medical tape and a folded up sheet of bandage – covered up the wound on Alexa's cheek.  
"Sorry, Alexa; this is the best I can do," he said apologetically. Alexa felt around her cheek. "I think you should head back to the Ranger Union for proper treatment after this is over. But until then, that's all I can do."  
"No, it's okay, Barlow," Alexa began. "I think this will hold until I get to the Union, no sweat. Thanks, Barlow." Barlow helped Alexa back onto her feet.  
"By the way, what did you do to get Gligar off your back?" he asked curiously. Alexa looked down at her keychain with a warm smile.  
"I used this to reflect the sunlight into Gligar's eyes," she answered. "I knew it could reflect light, so I made it so."  
"Ironic, isn't it?" Barlow asked rhetorically. Alexa faced him in confusion. "Even when he's not here, Keith's helping you out."  
"Yeah…" Alexa looked at her keychain again, smiling warmly once more. 'Keith…you sent me a holographic keychain on purpose, didn't you?'

_Later…_

Alexa, Ryder, Barlow and a befriended Mawile entered a new area of Peril Cliffs. They found a yellow Gigaremo unit in operation, hypnotising the nearby Pokémon.

**NIRRRRRRRRR!**

"Oh, God, that noise will haunt me for a long time!" Alexa complained. "I guess we'll have to destroy that one too."  
"Any ideas on how to destroy it?" Barlow asked.  
"Based on what I've hypothesised," Alexa began. "The Gigaremo's colours represent an element, i.e. Red represent Fire, which is weak to water, which is what the red Gigaremo units are vulnerable to," she explained. "I think that one can be destroyed by a physical crushing attack."  
"Alright then, let's see if Mawile can get its jaws into that thing," Barlow suggested.  
"Alright! Mawile, use Crunch on that Gigaremo unit!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"Ma-wi-LE!" Mawile runs over to the Gigaremo unit, quickly turned around and used its head-jaws to bite into the base of the Gigaremo, completely obliterating it. The noise ceased, the Pokémon regained their senses and they scattered. Mawile then left the vicinity. Barlow ran over to the debris, closely followed by Alexa and Ryder. Barlow checked out the broken pieces of the former Gigaremo.  
"No wonder why it was destroyed so easily," he began, holding one of the yellow pieces in his hand. "It's made of plastic."  
"I guess Team Dim Sun had to make budget cuts when making that model," Alexa assumed jokingly. "And I suppose we can now get to those Rampardos that are causing a stir."  
"You're right. Let's get a move on!"

_Later still…_

Alexa, Ryder, Barlow and Makuhita arrived at the same area where the Dim Sun goon was controlling the rampaging Rampardos. The trio moved in to confront the man.  
"Hey! What're you doing?" Barlow asked loudly. Startled, the man turned to face him and Alexa.  
"Aagh! Ranger! Two of them even?!" he panicked. "Uh…I'm a geologist! Yes! I'm checking the soil around here! That's what this computer's for!"  
"A geologist, right," Barlow pondered quietly. He squinted towards Alexa, looking sneaky. "Say, Alex, do you believe this guy?" he whispered. Alex scoffed and folded her arms.  
"When a Starly can use Hydro Cannon," she quietly answered with sarcasm. "His alibi is epic fail."  
"I think so too," Barlow indistinctly agreed. "Say, Mr Geologist, what's the soil compound like around here?" he asked teasingly.  
"The s-soil compound?" the man asked. "W-well, it's uh…gritty, has water in it, um…Oh, you guessed it, I'm with Team Dim Sun!"  
"You could've said that from the start," Alexa sighed. "How is it you're controlling those Rampardos?"  
"With this Miniremo unit, of course," the Dim Sun grunt answered. "It's a lot lighter than the Gigaremo, but has a ton more commands to it! Like this, for instance!" He typed something on the computer. The two hypnotised Rampardos faced Alexa and Barlow and prepared to attack. The two Rangers readied their stylers.  
"This is what you get for almost killing me," Alexa hissed.

"CAPTURE ON!"

Barlow and Alexa both released their capture discs from their stylers, each one surrounding one of the two Rampardos.  
"Ryder!"  
"Makuhita!"

"POKÉMON ASSIST!"

Ryder charged up an Aura Sphere and fired it at Alexa's styler, which caused her capture line to turn red. Makuhita's fist glowed light blue. It punched Barlow's capture disc towards its target Rampardos, leaving a red capture line in its path. Because the capture discs were now doubled in power, the Rampardos were befriended in no time.  
"Capture complete!" Barlow exclaimed.  
"Oh, crap! The experiment is a failure!" the Dim Sun man panicked, fleeing from the vicinity.  
"Okay, let's report back to the couple outside the cliffs," Barlow suggested.

_Later on…again…_

"Well, my companion and I have found and stopped the cause of the tremors," Barlow began. "There shouldn't be any more problems now. However, if you do find a disturbance, please report it to the Ranger Union as soon as possible, try not to intervene."  
"Thank goodness for you Rangers," the woman sighed with relief. "And thank you for sorting the problem out."  
"You two take care returning to your base," the man said wishfully. He and the woman returned to their cabin.  
"Well, Alexa, another job well done. That's mission clear," Barlow praised. "Also, I'm promoting you to Ranger Rank 4."  
"Yay, promotio- Wait a minute! Rank 4? What happened to Rank 3?" Alexa pondered in sudden confusion.  
"I forgot to promote you the other day for Pueltown's events," Barlow replied, with mild embarrassment. "Anyway, let me give you a bit of advice. If you capture a Doduo, you can ride on it in case you're exhausted from walking so much. But don't go indoors while on a Doduo; it's dangerous and just plain rude."  
"Thanks for the advice, Barlow," Alexa thanked.  
"Now, get yourself over to the Ranger Union for proper treatment," Barlow advised. "I'll see you back at base," he said, leaving the area. Alex and Ryder ran towards the Ranger Union.

_At the Ranger Union…_

"Ow!" Alexa flinched with pain as her cut was examined by one of the male scientists.  
"That'll need stitching, Alexa; that Gligar scratched your old wound open," he commented.  
"I thought it did, the little punk," Alexa jeered.  
"The stitching won't take long, don't worry," the scientist reassured.  
"Thanks Nage," Alexa thanked. Professor Hastings and an elderly-looking woman with pigtails entered the room.  
"I thought you came back, Alexa," Hastings commented. "We received a voicemail expecting you."  
"From Barlow, no doubt?" Alex guessed. "OW!" Nage started stitching Alexa's wound up.  
"You poor dear. Once Nage is done, you'll feel better again," the elder woman reassured.  
"Alexa, this is Chairperson Erma," Hastings introduced. "She founded and runs this Ranger Union. Erma, this is Alexa."  
"Ah, so you're the prized rookie Barlow told us about," Erma commented. "It's a pleasure to meet you, dear."  
"Same to y-OW!" Alexa sharply flinched with pain. Nage had just finished stitching up Alexa's wound, and had just cleaned the excess blood from the general area. "Same to you, ma'am," Alexa continued.

_Later on…_

At the Vientown Ranger base, Alexa and Ryder were ready for bed. Alex had received another letter. She and Ryder lay down on the bed and read it by the bedside light.

_Alex,_

_I have no idea how you managed to write a letter and get it to me in one day; I suppose you've got fast Pokémon back where you live, huh?_

_Anyway, I was shocked to hear that your old door injury had become fresh again, but at least I'm glad my souvenir helped you avoid further injuries. And, yes, I kind of did send you a holographic keychain on purpose; you never know when you need to blind someone to escape. I knew you'd use it like that because I've heard Pokémon trainers tend to be resourceful, and I figured you'd be resourceful as well. But I thought of you more when I picked Milotic._

_By the way, I've got your souvenir; it's fitting that I have a keychain from you, now that I look at it. But I doubt mine will shine a light in someone's eye, though. Maybe I can pick a lock or two with it; I should do with at least one of the tools! Thanks for the souvenir; I'm sure it'll help me out in the future just like mine helped you._

_Being serious now, Alex, I'm actually starting to become more depressed. It's subtle, but I can tell I'm starting to lose my Ranger mojo. I keep asking myself why that is, and I now know the answer; I miss my best friend. Buizel keeps reminding me that I'll see you again like we promised, but I know the wait will be painful. Are you feeling the same way? Is that why you sent me this souvenir? If you are feeling what I'm feeling as I write this, don't worry; I'll make sure to fulfil our promise soon. In the meantime, Ryder, you had better be looking after her. I know you are, I just thought I'd remind you, that's all, ha ha ha._

_I hope I can get over my depression. No doubt seeing you again will make me happy. See you soon, Alex. See you soon._

_Keith_

_The next day…_

Alexa and Ryder entered the main reception area of the base. Alexa's stitching on her cheek was barely noticeable, since Nage used light-coloured stitching. Neither of them saw Barlow anywhere.  
"Morning, Alex!" Crawford greeted. "Barlow's off on an emergency mission in the Boyleland."  
"What's happening there?" Alexa asked.  
"The Pokémon there have all disappeared," Luana answered. "Barlow's investigating the matter."  
"However," Crawford continued, getting a memo out of his pocket. "There's one small problem; the Ranger School is having an Outdoor Class today, and Barlow was supposed to be the one making the guest appearance."  
"And what does that have to do with me?" Alexa asked nervously. Crawford looked at the memo.  
"Barlow says to let Alexa teach the Outdoor Class," he answered, reading from the memo. "And treat it as a mission, he added."  
"So basically I have to do the Interrogative Q &amp; A," Alexa sarcastically translated. "Doesn't sound too hard."

_Across the bridge…_

"Going back to Ranger School," Alexa sighed. "Haven't been there since graduation. Hey, what the-?!"  
"Aagh, a Ranger!" a Dim Sun grunt panicked. "What should we do?! There's a Ranger School on the other end!"  
"So what?! Let's get her!" the second Dim Sun grunt fumed. Alexa and Ryder had a 'heard a bad pun' demeanour on their faces. Alexa sighed as Ryder stepped between the two oncoming grunts and shoved them, sending them both flying into the lake on opposite sides of the bridge.  
"You really don't know your own strength," she sighed. "Let's get to the school." She and Ryder continued on their way to the school.

_At the school…_

Alexa and Ryder walked through the school gates just in time to see Ms April walking down the steps to greet them.  
"Alexa? Is that you? Thank you for taking the time for this Outdoor Class," she said with gratitude.  
"Yeah, it's me alright," Alexa laughed. "So, when's this Outdoor Class thing going to start? I'm eager to see how well I do."  
"You'll do fine, Alexa, I'm sure of it," Ms April said reassuringly. "Will you follow me to the staff room?"  
"Sure." Ms April, Alexa and Ryder walked up the steps. Ryder faced Alexa.  
_Good luck answering those questions, Alex,_ he said politely. Alexa faced him with a smile on her face.  
"Thanks, Ryder. Let's both do well."

_Later, in Ascension Square…_

"Alright, everyone's present and accounted for," Ms April began. "Thank you for coming all this way for this class."  
"No problemo," Alexa responded in a friendly fashion. She faced the general group of students around her. Ryder smiled nervously.  
_Man, I've never handled crowds well,_ he timidly said inaudibly.  
"Don't pay too much attention to them, Ryder," she whispered to him. "My name is Alex – short for Alexa – and this is my partner Pokémon, Ryder the Lucario."  
_Um…hello,_ Ryder waved nervously.  
"This Ranger is one of this school's more recent graduates," Ms April stated. "Anyway, it's time for the Q&amp;A session of terror! But please be reasonable with your questions."  
"Um, I have a question," a male student began. "Why did you decide to become a Pokémon Ranger?"  
"Why? It's because I love being with Pokémon," Alexa answered. "As a Pokémon trainer whose journey ended 3 years prior to her enrolment at the Ranger School, I thought I was doomed to getting into a humdrum profession such as being a Battle Frontier Brain. Still, it makes me wonder which facility I'd be the Brain of…not that I care anyhow, I'm just curious."  
"Is it true that a Ranger can't go home often?" another male student asked.  
"I wouldn't know that one, mate, my family doesn't live in this region," Alexa began. "However, that doesn't mean you can't pop in to check on them while one is on patrol. We all love our families, so it's only natural to worry about their well being."  
"Whew, I'm glad that's the case," the student sighed with relief.  
"Is the work of a Ranger always busy?" a female student asked.  
"It can be, but that only depends on what's going on for that Ranger," Alexa started. "One might be out on patrol, and another one might be out somewhere putting a stop to a forest fire. You never can tell, but that's what makes the profession an exciting one."  
"Good to know," the student said happily.  
"I have a question," another female student began. "Is the Lucario a wild one?"  
"Nope," Alexa answered bluntly. "He's been by my side since he hatched from an egg in the Sinnoh region, while I was still a Pokémon trainer. He's had plenty of battling experience, therefore it's best to be careful around him; he can pack quite a powerful Aura Sphere."  
_In other words, make me angry and I fire,_ Ryder joked.  
"Oh, that means he can protect you as well!" the student assumed.  
"Uh…y-yeah, I suppose you're right," Alexa said nervously; she remembered what Keith told Ryder after graduation.  
"Alex, are you in love with someone?" another female student asked, rather teasingly.  
"I don't see how that's relevant, but, no, I'm not," Alexa answered blandly. But at least she didn't ask me if I wear pyjamas at night, she thought to herself.  
_You sure you're not in love with Keith?_ Ryder asked teasingly. Alexa looked down at him; she was annoyed, but she appeared to be blushing.  
"Yes, I'm sure," she answered in a small snarl. Ryder sniggered.  
"What background did you come from?" a male student asked.  
"Um…something of a money background," Alexa answered in a sigh. "But I've not been raised into a spoilt brat who cares about nothing other than how she looks and what she wants 24/7."  
"Does anyone else have a question?" Ms April asked.  
"Yeah, we've got one!" a familiar voice exclaimed angrily. The two Dim Sun grunts from the bridge – now soaked head to toe – approached the class. Alexa and Ryder immediately stepped in front of them while they stepped back. "Why did you have to throw us into the water!?"  
"Aaaaaaagh! Bad guys!" the students panicked.  
"Who are you? Don't you dare harm my students!" Ms April scolded.  
"Who are you, don't you dare harm my students," the first Dim Sun grunt imitated. "Cool it, lady!"  
"Keep talking to her like that if you want to go back into the river!" Alexa threatened angrily. Ryder created an Aura Sphere and held it, ready to fire.  
"Aw, shut up, Ranger! This is for making us take a dive!" The second Dim Sun grunt took out a 'Miniremo' unit and called fourth two Carnivine who attempted to attack Alexa.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc at the Carnivine and it surrounded the two of them. "Ryder, fire at will!"  
Ryder fired his Aura Sphere at the capture disc, increasing the power of the capture line. The Carnivine were captured and befriended in a matter of seconds.  
"Capture complete," Alexa confirmed, recalling her capture disc. The 'Miniremo' unit gave off a small explosion as the Carnivine fled. The two Dim Sun men panicked.  
"Oh, crap! Let's get out of here!" they panicked as they fled from the school. Alexa and Ryder resumed their original positions in front of the pledge stone.  
"My, that was a quick capture," Lamont complimented. "Thank you so much for protecting the students."  
"Meh, they were all washed up anyway," Alexa laughed. "Anyway, I don't like it when the baddies harm the innocent bystanders."  
"Alexa? I have a question," a female student began timidly. "Is it fun to be a Pokémon Ranger?"  
"Well…if you really want to know, and I can say this with absolute certainty," Alexa began. "Yes. Yes, it is."  
"I knew it! Thank you, Alexa!"  
"I'll do the best I can to become a Ranger!"  
"We even got to see a Ranger in action! We'll never forget this!"

**DING! DING! DING!**

"Well, class is over," Ms April stated. "It's time to go back to the school." The students all said their goodbyes to Alexa and Ryder as they left for the school. An unfamiliar brunette haired man approached Alexa.  
"I've only just started teaching here," he began. "But I sincerely hope I can teach the students to be excellent Rangers like yourself."  
"We can always do our best," Alexa responded. "I'm certain you'll manage successfully."  
"Thank you." The teacher made his way to the school. Principal Lamont also approached Alexa.  
"May I be allowed a question?" he asked.  
"Sure, go ahead," Alex permitted.  
"Chairperson Erma is at the Union," Lamont began. "Is she in good health?" he asked.  
"Yes, in perfect health," Alexa answered.  
"That's good to know. Alexa, you were inspirational today," Lamont complimented. "I doubt the students will ever forget this day."  
"Same here. Say, am I allowed a small question?" Alexa asked.  
"Of course."  
"What happened to Mr Kincaid? I thought he was still teaching here."  
"Mr Kincaid has taken a leave of absence," Lamont answered. "Just after you and your friends graduated."  
"After we graduated?" Alexa questioned. "How come?"  
"That, I'm afraid, we don't know," Lamont replied. "I do hope he is in good health. He seemed stressed at the Tangrowth's ambush. Now, if you will excuse me, I must return to the school. Feel free to stop by and visit." Lamont made his leave towards the school. Alexa and Ryder immediately became suspicious.  
"Okay, first the door-slamming thing," Alexa began. "Then the sudden Tangrowth from the basement for some unexplained reason…and now the leave of absence taken after graduation…this can't be a coincidence." Ryder snarled angrily, indicating his suspicion of the whole series of events.

_The next day…_

Alexa and Ryder, both held a bottle of white milkshake, entered the main reception of the Vientown base. Ryder drank his milkshake as Crawford moved over to Alexa.  
"Morning, Alex," he greeted, despite looking somewhat worried.  
"What's wrong, Crawford?" Alexa asked.  
"Well, uh…can you and Ryder go to the Boyleland?" Crawford asked. "It seems that the Pokémon there aren't the only ones missing. Barlow's gone missing now too." Astonished, Ryder suddenly stopped drinking; this caused him to choke, but he eventually coughed loudly.  
"What?! When did that happen!?" Alexa asked in horror.  
"The Union raised the alarm when Barlow's signal disappeared," Crawford explained, in a sigh.  
"Signal? Is there something in our stylers that lets the Union know where we are?" Alexa pondered.  
"Exactly," Elaine confirmed. "And Barlow's signal has disappeared."  
"Knowing Barlow, he's probably dropped his styler in lava," Crawford assumed, in an attempted playful tone. Ryder snarled.  
"No way! There has to be another explanation!" Alexa exclaimed in defence, on Barlow's behalf. "His styler might've simply ran out of energy, for all we know, and is stuck in the Boyleland somewhere!" Ryder nodded in corroboration. "Either way, we'll look for him."  
"Be careful, Alexa," Luana warned. "The Boyleland is a volcanic island. The volcano itself is inactive, but there is still lava in there."  
"Don't worry, Ryder and I know how to prepare for something of that magnitude," Alexa stated. She and Ryder both drank their milkshakes in one gulp. They both slammed their bottles on the nearby table, both with determination about their demeanours. "Let's rock…!"

_To be continued…_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Barlow's Disappearance! A Conspiracy Confirmed!**

I have already said that friendship is important to me. That's still true, even though I have recently realised that my friends back home aren't truly my friends; none of them have helped me like I've helped them. Okay, Barlow's helped me before vice versa…but now that I know he may be in trouble, Ryder and I are on our way to help him. Hang in there, Barlow…

Alex and Ryder arrive at a volcanic island. There is a Ranger depot nearby, but the main focus is the small village – consisting of four buildings – and the cave up ahead in the distance. Behind Alex and Ryder, a group of Drifloon slowly float towards the cave.

"Alright, we need to get into the cave," Alex began. "But I don't think that's an easy task, since there's a defiant person in the way," she said sarcastically. She and Ryder enter the village. "Let's see if we can get in on our own…"

"I don't think you will, dear," an elderly woman approaches Alex and Ryder. "You will need the Elder's permission to enter the cave."

"Elder?" Alex queried. The elderly lady points to the house just behind Alex and Ryder.

"He and his granddaughter live in that house just behind you, dear," she directed.

"Thank you very much," Alex said gratefully. She and Ryder head for the said house.

Inside the house…

Alex and Ryder – after knocking, of course – enter the house and find an elderly man and a young brunette haired girl.

"Eh? Are you the missing Ranger?" the man asked. "Where're the missing Pokémon?"

"Grandpa, this Ranger's here to look for the Ranger who went missing," the girl corrected.

"The missing Ranger is my base leader, I have to find him," Alex explained. "Please, my partner and I need to access the volcano cave."

"I'm sorry, Ranger," the girl began. "Since our Mime Jr has been taken, Grandpa's been rather lonely as of late."

"Very well! I shall grant you permission to enter the volcano cave," the Elder agreed. "But I must ask you to find our Mime Jr in return."

"I'll find the other local Pokémon while I'm at it," Alex vowed. Ryder nods in corroboration.

Inside the volcano cave…

Alex and Ryder enter the cave, now that they have the necessary permission, and look around.

"Oh, man…! It's boiling in here! Now wonder why this place is called the Boyleland," Alex commented sarcastically. "How're you feeling, Ryder?" she asked with concern.

Ryder appears to be suffering somewhat. He's constantly sweating and coughing, as well as appearing to be ill. His sensors lift up feebly.

"I know. Don't worry, I'll make sure you maintain your health as we progress," Alex promised. She and Ryder start to venture deeper into the cave.

Alex and Ryder walk up some steps, and Alex notices a gust of wind heading for the other side of the cave. Ryder instantly races away and into the fresh air coming from behind him and Alex. Alex runs after Ryder and checks his health.

"Ryder! You okay?! Ryder!" she exclaimed in a panic. She instantly takes her phone out of her pocket and dials a number. She then holds the phone to her ear. "I knew I should've been more prepared…!" she complained to herself. "Chris, it's me! Listen, Ryder's not going to cope during the mission we're undertaking. I want you to send Phoenix over with a medical-pack for Ryder."

Not long later…

A Charizard flies across the ocean – holding a white hip-bag with a red cross on the front in one claw and a spare bag with extra medical supplies in the other – flying at full speed, quickly approaching the Boyleland. He approaches the ledge where Alex is tending to Ryder. Alex accepts the white hip bag and the other bag of medical supplies.

"Thank you so much, Phoenix," she exclaimed gratefully. She instantly uses the medicine to treat Ryder's flush. Ryder makes a minor recovery and watches Alex adding some more medical supplies to the white hip-bag. She puts the hip-bag around her waist, with the bag itself facing outwards behind her. "Can you tell Chris thanks for me? I'd tell him myself via the phone, but we can't waste any more time."

Phoenix roars softly whilst nodding, complying with Alex's favour. He nuzzles her before taking flight. Phoenix flies away from the volcano cave, taking the unneeded medical supplies with him. Alex helps Ryder onto his feet.

"You should be okay now, Ryder," she said softly. "Just let me know if you're feeling ill again, I can give you some ointment now." She and Ryder return to the volcano cave.

Inside the cave…

Alex and Ryder – now further into the cave – move northwards. Ryder stops Alex in her tracks and points down ahead of him; a styler. Alex instantly runs over to pick it up.

"This is Barlow's styler!" she exclaimed. "Someone turned it off. I think we should turn it on once we find Barlow."

Ryder faces Alex with his sensors lifted up. Alex faces Ryder in confusion. She looks over to where she and Ryder are headed next.

"If we come across Team Dim Sun, we'll ask them about Barlow," she answered. She and Ryder move further into the cave.

Further inside…

Alex and Ryder come across two Team Dim Sun minions, one of which has a Miniremo out. The minions notice Alex.

"Hey, what's a Ranger doing here?!" the first exclaimed in a panicky fashion. Alex loses her temper.

"I'll be the one asking the questions here! What have you done with Barlow?!" she demanded furiously.

"The other Ranger who came by looking for the missing Pokémon?" the second one asked. "Sorry, not telling." He types something into the Miniremo, and a hypnotised Kangaskhan approaches Alex. Alex saw this coming.

"Capture on! Ryder!" her capture disc is instantly released, and is soon powered up, compliments of Ryder's Aura Sphere. It isn't long before the Kangaskhan is captured. The Kangaskhan leaves after the Miniremo gives off a small explosion.

"Oh crap! Run away!" the minions exclaimed, fleeing from the scene. Alex and Ryder progress through the cave.

They run passed a wild Rhyhorn. The Rhyhorn appears to be in a bad mood, and decides to tackle Alex and Ryder. They both cry out in pain as they crash into the ground. The Rhyhorn goes about its business as normal. Ryder and Alex stand back up, but with difficulty.

"Ow…I guess the Pokémon here are agitated with Team Dim Sun here," Alex guessed, rubbing her left leg.

Northwards…

Alex and Ryder progress through the cave and see a metallic door ahead. They approach the door, but two more Dim Sun minions intercept them.

"Oh, no you don't!" the first one scolded. "You're not going through to the hidden harbour that easily!"

"A harbour in a volcanic cave? That sounds somewhat out of place," Alex commented.

"Yeah, well, you're still not going there!" the second minion snapped. The two men bring out a Miniremo and type on their respective devices. Two hypnotised Numel – one per Miniremo – appear and ambush Alex and Ryder.

Alex releases her capture disc and quickly captures the two Numel, without the need for Ryder's Pokémon Assist ability. The Numel leave once the Miniremo's explode.

"Uh oh…" the two minions run away from the door. Alex and Ryder take the opportunity to go through.

Inside…

They arrive in a much cooler environment; it really does appear to be a harbour, with the seawater and the crates stacked around the area. Ryder and Alex hide behind a crate and look over it. They see a bunch of Fire type Pokémon, a few Purugly's and a Mime Jr – all hypnotised by the Miniremo – entering the large cargo ship behind the Dim Sun minion controlling the Miniremo.

"They're the missing Pokémon alright," Alex whispered. "Mime Jr kind of gives that away. But how can one Miniremo control all those Pokémon?" Alex almost suddenly gasps in horror; she and Ryder are witnessing four Dim Sun minions taking Barlow – who is currently trussed up tightly – into the cargo ship.

"You don't know who you're messing with! Me, Barlow!" Barlow exclaimed angrily. Alex instantly hides behind the crate, with a petrified look on her face. Ryder continues to watch discreetly.

"Shut up! You're doing our heads in!" the minions complained. They eventually go into the ship.

"Oh, great…!" Alex quietly panicked. Ryder looks at her in confusion. "What're we going to do now…!?" Ryder tugs Alex's arm, getting her to watch the next scene they are about to witness.

"Alright, that's the last of the Pokémon," the higher-up looking Dim Sun man began. "And the Ranger as well. Now, you are all to patrol this area until we leave in two minutes!"

"Yes sir!" the four Dim Sun minions complied.

"Remember! If you see a Ranger snooping around, truss 'em up a smidgeon on the tight side and then report to the captain!" the admin instructed.

"Yes sir!" the Dim Sun minions obeyed. They head for the loading bay to start their patrol.

"What do we do?" Alex asked in a quiet panic, having digested what he heard. "If we get spotted, we'll never be able to save Barlow! If we stay here, we'll never be able to save Barlow!" she complained. She suddenly has an idea. "Ryder, listen up. You won't like it, but it's the only chance we have."

A few minutes later…

Alex and Ryder – separately – sneak around the crates. On purpose, Alex makes herself trip up.

"Ow!" she exclaimed. Her tone of voice indicates that her pain is false, but realistic.

"Hey, it's that Ranger from inside the cave!" one of the minions exclaimed. Ryder – having witnessed the slip up – almost moves in to save her, but resists, remembering what Alex told him. He appears to be holding both Alex's styler and Barlow's styler. The three other minions join the one who 'spotted' Alex and assist him in restraining her. Unbeknownst to the minions, Alex smirks.

'Man, that was so easy! I guess this team isn't the smartest in the world,' she thought to herself. 'I can't believe this is working!'

"Okay, now we can report this to the captain," one of the minions said with relief. Two of the other minions hoist Alex onto her feet; she's now tied up around her waist with the rope one of the minions had brought along. They escort her to the admin. Ryder sneaks along after them. The minions approach the admin.

"Sir, we've found a Ranger in the area," one of them stated. "What should we do with her?"

"Stick her somewhere and report to the captain," the admin instructed. "But keep her away from the other one."

"Yes sir!" the minions complied.

"Military dialogue much?" Alex asked playfully.

"Silence! You shouldn't be joking, now that you can't intervene," the admin scolded. "Take her inside, I'll tell the captain we can leave now."

"This is your captain speaking," the intercom began. "We are now heading back to headquarters. Please get on board and be quick about it!" The Dim Sun admin, the minions and Alex all move into the ship. Ryder quickly, yet quietly, follows them.

Inside the ship…

Ryder sneaks around, following two minions, who are both escorting Alex somewhere, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"I cannot believe you got yourself into this mess so easily," the first minion taunted. "The other Ranger was more of a challenge!"

"Well, he's more muscle-bound than me, what do you expect?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"Something else to happen at the time, maybe?" the second one asked mockingly.

"You mean like this?" Alex asked playfully.

"AAAAGH!" Ryder fired two Aura Spheres, one for each minion. They're both knocked out cold. Alex runs over to Ryder, who then unties her. They then high-five one another, smiling.

"I told you it would work, didn't I?" Alex asked, receiving her styler from Ryder. She puts it back into place. "Now that we're on board, at last, let's find Barlow." Ryder nods in agreement as he and Alex run off in search of Barlow.

Not long later…

Alex and Ryder move along a corridor with three doors. The first two doors they encounter are locked, but they enter the third.

"Who's there!?" Barlow asked demandingly. "You Dim Sun guys want to taunt me some more?!" Alex and Ryder approach him.

"Barlow, it's us," she told him quietly.

"Whuh? Alex?! What're you doing here?!" Barlow asked in horror.

"Rescuing you, of course," Alex responded quietly.

"Thanks, Alex. But we can't see what's what in here," Barlow began. "You need to light the room up."

**CLICK!**

Ryder flicks a light switch in the room. It brightens, causing Alex and Barlow to be temporarily blinded.

"Ow…that works, I suppose," Alex muttered.

"Too bright…it's better than the dark, though," Barlow stated. "But I wish you didn't have to see me like this."

"Don't worry about it, Ryder and I can untie you now, since we can see what we're doing," Alex said reassuringly.

"It's a no-go, Alex," Barlow stated. "They trussed me up on the tight side. You may have to cut the ropes."

"Or better yet…Ryder?" Ryder charges an Aura Sphere close to Barlow's ropes. The ropes soon break because of the Aura Sphere's energy burning away at them. Ryder cancels out his Aura Sphere.

"Nicely done! Thanks, Alex, Ryder," Barlow thanked with gratitude. "Now let's pay a visit to the captain of this ship!"

"My sentiments exactly," Alex agreed. "I want to know who fell for our plan to get Ryder and I on board." She goes over to the door on the opposite end of the room and attempts to open it. She scoffs. "Who leaves one door open and the other one locked?! Honestly!"

"Allow me," Barlow said, taking a few steps back. Ryder pulls Alex out of the way. "Target…CLEAR!" Barlow runs towards the door.

"Barlow, what're you-"

**CRASH!**

Barlow breaks through the door, but Ryder and Alex flinch when Barlow makes contact with the door.

**CRASH!**

Barlow crashes through a second door. Ryder and Alex flinch after that as well.

"Whoa…Alex! Take a look at this!" Barlow shouted. Alex and Ryder run out of the room and into where Barlow ended up.

They find themselves in a strange looking bedroom. They see a large desk with a tall mirror and a bunch of hairspray cans on the desk in front of the mirror, and several rails of oddly familiar-looking clothing.

"This must be the captain's quarters," Barlow commented. Ryder sniffs the air and sneezes.

"I think the smell is of the hairspray on the desk," Alex guessed. "Hairspray…and rails of yellow shirts with red body warmers? Okay, this is creepy now…"

"Let's find the captain."

Down the hall…

Alex, Barlow, Makuhita and Ryder are about to head for the deck when Dim Sun minions surround them. Alex and Barlow ready their stylers.

"Hold it! You two aren't getting away that easily!" one of the minions snapped. Five Miniremo's – two on Barlow's side, three on Alex's side – are set up, and five different Pokémon appear; two Magmar and three Magcargos.

"Capture on!" Barlow and Alex release their capture discs at their targets; Barlow aims for the two Magmar, Alex aims for the three Magcargos. The captures are easy, however, as neither Alex nor Barlow have difficulty taking care of them. All five Miniremo units explode and the five Pokémon flee. The minions soon flee as well.

On the deck…

Alex, Barlow, Makuhita and Ryder look around; nobody is out on the deck. They approach the stairs to the bridge, but not before someone exits the bridge, intercepting them.

"Mr Kincaid? What're you doing here?" Alex asked in confusion. Ryder snarls loudly and angrily at the familiar-looking man. "Ryder, what's gotten into-" Alex suddenly gasps in horror.

"You okay, Alex?" Barlow asked.

"That explains it!" she exclaimed. "The things we found in the captain's quarters, Mr Kincaid's sudden leave of absence at the Ranger School, the basement being off limits; Mr Kincaid's been in cahoots with Team Dim Sun all along!" she accused angrily.

"Clever," Mr Kincaid replied simply. "I am not a teacher, nor have I ever been one to begin with. My real identity is…"

**RIIIIIIIIIP!**

He tears his outer layer of clothes off, revealing a dark outfit – similar to that of the Team Dim Sun admin – and a cloak. He instantly put on a pair of dark shades.

"Kincaid!" he declared. Alex is left bewildered.

"Next time, come up with something…different," she taunted.

"I must admit, you certainly took a different approach in getting here than I expected," Kincaid commented. "Allowing yourself to be captured just to get on board quickly? I never would've expected that from you."

"What?" Barlow faces Alex in astonishment. "That's how you got here?" Alex nods once smirks.

"How long did it take you to realise you've been duped, Kincaid?" she asked mockingly. "An hour?"

"Shut up! If I'd have known you were the one my minions brought on board, I would've thrown you overboard myself!" Kincaid snapped.

Ryder suddenly gasps himself; 'thrown you overboard' were the words that horrified him the most. Alex faces him in confusion.

"Ryder? What's wrong?" she asked.

"I have never liked that Lucario ever since I laid eyes on him," Kincaid muttered. Alex looks at Kincaid in confusion before she, Barlow, Makuhita and Ryder are pushed down the steps, where a hoard of Dim Sun minions surrounds them. "Minions! Take care of them!"

"Yes sir!" they all complied. Four Miniremo's are revealed and activated. Four Rhyhorn appear and attack Barlow and Alex. However, they're captured almost as soon as they're summoned. The Rhyhorn then leave the deck after the Miniremo's explode.

"We're sorry, sir! We'll leave now!" the minions exclaimed shamefully. They jump overboard, which bewilders Alex and Barlow.

"Pathetic," Kincaid sighed. He has a Miniremo and a hypnotised Drapion at his side. "Minions! Take them down now!" he fumed. More minions show up and surround the two Rangers.

"Alex, I'll take care of Kincaid, you handle the small fry!" Barlow advised. Alex nods at him.

"Got it!" she complied. Three hypnotised Stunky are set on her while Barlow sets his styler on the Drapion.

A few minutes later…

**BOOM BOOM BOOM!**

The Miniremo's blow up as the Stunky's flee. The remaining minions jump overboard on their own free will, ashamed of themselves.

"Whoaaaa!" Barlow falls down the steps. His styler and broken capture disc land next to him.

"Barlow!" Alex and Ryder run over to him, as does Makuhita. "Are you okay?!"

"It's no good…my styler's broken," Barlow said angrily. "Alex, it's up to you and Ryder now."

"Ryder? What good is he going to do?" Kincaid asked tauntingly. "He doesn't even know how he came to be here in Almia!"

"What's your point?!" Barlow asked interrogatively.

"My point is…I know how Ryder came to be here," Kincaid answered.

"Tell me! What happened to him!?" Alex asked furiously.

"The answer's simple; I kidnapped him," Kincaid answered bluntly.

"What?! How?!" Alex asked in horror; Ryder is also in horror, as he has lost all memory of how he ended up on Nabiki Beach.

"I wanted to take control of a powerful Lucario," Kincaid continued. "I searched all over, and then I found Ryder on an island somewhere, not too far from the city called Station Square. I kidnapped him and brought him here. He would've ended up at HQ if he hadn't broken free and jumped overboard."

"That's how it happened?! I knew I was right not to trust you, but this is just too much!" Alex cried with disbelief.

"However, I never knew who Ryder's trainer is or was," Kincaid continued. "So, I was horrified to see the very Lucario I kidnapped failing to recognise me and standing by your side."

"So you pulled that 'Tangrowth came from the basement' trick to weaken him again!" Alex accused, now with tears in her eyes.

"Lucky guess. However, you and Keith ruined that plan when you used your stylers to capture the Tangrowth instead of allowing Ryder to fight," Kincaid explained. "But consider yourself lucky; my analysis of Ryder shows he has yet to master his Psychic attack. A Pokémon who can't master an attack is not worth my time. And to be frank, Alexa…Ryder isn't worth my time anyway…or yours."

"How dare you talk about Ryder like that!" Alex fumed, instantly standing onto her feet with her styler at the ready. "Ryder is one of the best Pokémon I've ever had, and one of the very best I've raised! I know he'll perfect Psychic one day, so don't you dare talk about him like he's a piece of crap! At any rate, why was the basement off limits?!"

"Oh, that? I was only positioned at the school so I could find a genius," Kincaid answered, unfazed at Alex's rage. "And I have found a genius in Isaac."

"You used the Ranger School for that?! You're sick!" Barlow raged.

"So, Alexa, are you still willing to challenge me? Despite hearing the harsh truth about your pet?" Kincaid asked tauntingly.

"More than ever! And don't you dare call Ryder a pet ever again!" Alex cried angrily. "Capture ON!" she shouted, releasing her capture disc at the Drapion.

After a certain degree of difficulty…

**BOOM!**

Drapion flees after the Miniremo explodes. Kincaid snarls with fury. Ryder, however, is left stunned; he had forgotten the harsh reality of how he arrived in Almia.

"This isn't over yet, Alexa!" Kincaid vowed, summoning a hypnotised Gliscor. Kincaid grabs Gliscor's arms and it pulls him away from the ship.

**BOOM!**

Something exploded somewhere else on the ship. Alex, Barlow, Makuhita and Ryder race into the bridge. Barlow instantly takes the helm.

"Uh oh! The Kingston Valve has been unplugged!" he exclaimed. "The ship's taking on water and is sinking fast!" He opens various communication channels on the ship. "Hello, can anyone hear me?! It's Barlow, Alex and I have taken control of Team Dim Sun's ship!" While Barlow's communicating with someone, Alex goes over to Ryder.

"Ryder? You going to be okay?" she asked worriedly. Ryder tries not to look at her, but lifts his sensors up regardless. "Oh, Ryder…I know it's horrific, but the main thing is you don't need to worry about Kincaid wanting you again…! But right now we need to do something!"

"Barlow, if you and Alex can't make it to a pier in time, abandon ship and save yourselves," Crawford advised on the radio. "Good luck."

"What?! There's no way I'm leaving the Pokémon behind! Come on, Ryder!" Alex exclaimed enthusiastically. Ryder looks away from Alex, looking ashamed of himself. Alex sighs.

"Fine, I'll go by myself!" she stressed. Ryder looks up at her in horror.

"Go where?" Barlow asked.

"To put the Kingston Valve back into place," Alex replied. "If it's back in place, we won't need to worry about the ship sinking!"

"I see… I think you have four minutes or so before the ship starts to properly sink," Barlow estimated. "Hurry!"

"I'm on it!" Alex runs out of the bridge. Ryder's conflicted.

In the cargo bay, a couple of minutes later…

Alex manages to get to the Kingston Valve. She and a befriended Machoke attempt to push it back into place. They eventually do so, and the Machoke leaves.

Back at the bridge…

"Hey, the water's stopped coming in!" Barlow exclaimed happily. "Alex did it! Okay, now where to go from here…?"

"Maku!" Makuhita points out of the window. Barlow looks out of the window and looks at what Makuhita's pointing to.

"Perfect! Nice eye, Makuhita!" Barlow complimented.

In the cargo bay…

"Okay, time to get back to Barlow and Ryder," Alex sighed to herself, with relief. She's about to walk off…

"Wh-whoaaaa! Aaaaaagh!" the ship makes a sudden turn, causing Alex to lose balance and to fall.

At the Ascension Square…

The cargo ship crashes into and destroys the small pier. The Boyleland Pokémon – including Mime Jr – flee from the ship. Luana, Crawford, Ms April and Lamont arrive on the scene quickly.

"Barlow's done it! The Pokémon are saved and all!" Crawford cheered. "Too bad about the pier, though."

"I'm just glad the Pokémon are safe from harm," Lamont stated. "The pier is of no significance." Alex slowly makes her way out of the ship, holding onto her right shoulder.

"Alex?! Are you alright?!" Ms April asked, with extreme worry. Alex topples over, but she manages to prevent herself from falling flat on her face.

"I think so…" Alex sighed.

"Where's Crawford?" Luana asked worriedly.

"In the bridge, last I checked," Alex answered. Soon enough, Barlow, Makuhita and Ryder appear on the roof of the bridge.

"Alex! Mission clear!" Barlow shouted to Alex. Ryder jumps down to help Alex; his sensors are raised.

"It's alright, Ryder," Alex whispered happily, giving him a soft cuddle. "I'm not mad at you. I wasn't in the first place."

_To be continued…_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten - Top Ranger! Advancing Your Dreams!**

"Well, I never knew this day would come," Barlow began. "Actually, I knew it was coming since I handed you your styler, Alexa, but I never knew it would be this soon. Congratulations, Top Ranger Alexa!"  
"We're all happy for you, Alexa," Luana began. "But it's sad to see you go. This team turned out to be a really good one."  
"Chairperson Erma asked for you personally, Alex," Crawford stated. "She said you're what the Union needs! Great, huh?"  
"Y-yeah…great…" Alexa didn't look so cheerful. Despite her new status as Top Ranger, she didn't appear to like the idea of leaving the Area Rangers behind.  
"Are you okay, Alexa?" Elaine asked.  
"No…I…It's too soon for me! It's too soon to leave you!" Alexa confessed sadly. "Too soon to say goodbye!" Ryder tapped Alexa's arm. She looked down at him and found him with a warm smile.  
_Remember what Keith said before we parted; it's not goodbye, it's see you later instead,_ he said softly. Alexa looked away from Ryder, still with a sad look on her face. She took her keychain off of her shorts and looked at it in her hand.  
"See you later…not goodbye…" she said to herself sadly. A teardrop fell onto her keychain, and she wiped the tear away from it with her thumb.  
"Sounds like solid advice to me," Ollie commented in a friendly manner. Ryder looked up at Alexa worriedly, but soon noticed Barlow approaching her. He rested his hand on her left shoulder.  
"Hey, cheer up, Alexa," he said softly. "I know you'll see him again." Alexa looked up at him in confusion.  
"Hm?"  
"Keith. That's what you're upset about, isn't it?" Barlow asked politely. "Tell you what; why don't you send him a letter telling him of your new Top Ranger status? He'll be happy for you, I'm sure of it."  
"Barlow…" Alexa trailed off with a light sigh. She was too sad to say anything to counter his words.  
"You'll be an excellent Top Ranger. Let's face it, kid, you're too skilled to be here forever," Barlow said, with a cheerful laugh. "And Ollie's right; Keith's advice is solid. Area Rangers can often work alongside Top Rangers, so I definitely know we'll work together someday."  
"Thanks, Barlow…I appreciate this…" Alexa looked at her keychain. "I guess I'm upset because I've never had real friends before…"  
"What about your friends back where you come from?" Elaine asked curiously.  
"Compared to everyone I've befriended during my time here thus far," Alexa began. "Nobody I've previously made friends with never bothered to keep in touch with me...it's like they just...forgot about me..."  
"Oh, they're not worth your time then!" Big Bertha huffed. "If someone doesn't look out for you when you've looked out for them, they're not your friends."  
"And it took me a while to realise that," Alexa said sadly. She soon smiled. "But no more of it! I'm going to be the best Ranger I can be, and with all of my friends behind me, there's no way I'll be backing down from achieving my dreams so easily!"  
_Whee!_ Ryder jumped up and down happily.  
"That's the Alex we all know and love!" Crawford cheered. "We know you can do it!"  
"I'm sure Keith will be happy for you once he finds out," Luana said happily. "Good luck, Alexa!"  
"Remember to stop by every once in a while," Elaine added. "We don't want to forget you!"  
"I certainly won't forget you," Alexa began. "Any of you. You're all very memorable, and I'm grateful to have met and worked alongside you."  
"I'm grateful to you too, Alexa," Barlow added. "You've been a pleasure to work with."

_Later…_

In Vien Forest, Alexa and Ryder approached Lookout Ridge. They stopped and took in the breathtaking view.  
"You know something, Ryder? Barlow's right," Alexa began. "I should write Keith a letter, telling him that we're a Top Ranger pair."  
_I wonder how he's doing anyway?_ Ryder queried.  
"Hey there, luck girl!" called a familiar voice. The green-haired Ranger from the Union – riding on a Staraptor – approached Alexa and Ryder. "Hey, it's me! I asked you a few questions at the Ranger Union!"  
"Oh, hello again," Alexa greeted happily.  
"The Union sent me to pick you up," the Ranger stated. "Get ready!"  
"Wait, what? What're you-"  
"Coming at you!" The Staraptor flew over Alexa and grabbed hold of her left arm. Ryder held onto her as the Staraptor pulled the duo up into the air.

_Outside the Union…_

Alexa and Ryder fell from the sky and landed on their feet. The green-haired ranger hopped off of her Staraptor and faced Alexa.  
"Well, we're here," she commented.  
"By the way, I never got your name," Alexa said abruptly.  
"Oh, you didn't? My name's Wendy," the Ranger replied. "I'm known as the Flying Ranger because of my Staraptor partner."  
"Nice to have met you, Wendy," Alexa said cheerfully.  
"Chairperson Erma's waiting for you in the conference room," Wendy stated. "You should go up and see her."  
"I will, thank you," Alexa thanked as she and Ryder entered the Union building.

_In the conference room…_

Alexa and Ryder entered the conference room, and they met up with Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma.  
"Welcome, Alexa," Erma greeted. "I see you're looking much better than the last time we met."  
"Yes, I am, ma'am," Alexa said modestly. "Nage did a superb job with my cheek, and I'm much better than I was before."  
The door opened up abruptly, and a familiar-looking crimson haired boy hastily entered the room. Neither Alexa nor Ryder noticed the second Ranger nor his partner Buizel.  
"Sorry I'm late!" the Ranger apologised in a hurry.  
"It's quite all right, dear," Erma began. "We know why; you had to stop Team Dim Sun along the way, yes? We've received thanks from the citizens for your efforts. Incidentally, have either of you noticed? This may surprise you, but…turn around."  
Alexa did so and almost clasped her mouth in shock when she saw who she stood next to; Keith. Keith was equally surprised, but he soon smiled.  
"Alex! I didn't know you became a Top Ranger too!" he exclaimed happily. "I was going to write to you tonight about it!" Alexa looked at Keith with tear-filled eyes, but with a warm smile about her face.  
"So was I…" Alexa responded shakily. "Oh, Keith!" she instantly ran over to him and hugged him. "I've missed you so much!" she cried. Keith hugged her in return.  
"I missed you too," he corroborated. "But I never lost faith! I knew we'd see each other again, but, whoa! Never expected it to be like this!"  
"Me neither!" Alexa laughed. Erma laughed.  
"I'm glad you two get along so well," she said happily. Alexa and Keith faced her, both with gratifying looks on their faces. Neither of them noticed that they still held onto one another.  
"Now, I must present to you the symbol of any Top Ranger; the Fine Styler," Hastings declared. "Incidentally, you may want to release each other."  
"Huh?" Alexa and Keith faced each other in confusion before they found out that they were still holding each other. They released each other and blushed from embarrassment. Erma laughed again.  
"I believe you two will get along like a house on fire," she said cheerfully. Hastings went over to Alexa and Keith and gave them very different-looking stylers. These ones appeared to clip onto one's arm. Keith and Alexa put their stylers on their right arms.  
"There, you are now properly certified Top Rangers," Hastings said proudly. "Now, you may take some time to catch up; Chairperson Erma and I will be leaving you now."  
"I will be waiting for you in the Operations Room, dears," Erma stated. "Meet me there when you're ready."  
"Thank you, ma'am," Alexa thanked kindly. Hastings and Erma left the room, leaving Keith and Alexa alone.

"Wow, I can't believe this is happening!" Alexa exclaimed excitedly. "I wanted to tell you about this, but I don't need to now because we're both here at the same time!"  
"I wanted to pay you a visit in Vientown," Keith began. "But I don't think that's necessary anymore, do you?"  
"Not really," Alexa laughed. "But, God damn, I missed you so much! Thank you, Keith."  
"For what?"  
"For writing to me," Alexa replied, blushing. "I thought it was very sweet of you." Keith blushed as well.  
"I…I wanted to let you know how I was doing in Fiore, so that's how it started," he replied nervously. "Thank you for writing back."  
"You're welcome," Alexa said timidly. "So…did you bring your partner Pokémon with you?"  
"Yep!" Buizel hopped onto Keith's right shoulder. "This is Buizel. Buizel, this is my best friend, Alexa, and her partner, Ryder."  
"Bui-bui!" Buizel greeted happily.  
_Hey there, little guy,_ Ryder waved cheerfully.  
"Bui!" Buizel waved happily in response to Ryder.  
"Nice to meet you, Buizel," Alexa smiled. "Anyway, shall we go and see Chairperson Erma?"  
"Sure," Keith agreed. Alex and Ryder prepared to leave the conference room. "Alex?"  
"Yes?" Alexa turned to face Keith in confusion.  
"Before we do, I want to clarify a few things," he said nervously. He blushed again. "First, I really am sorry now; about calling you weird when we first met."  
"It's nothing, Keith," Alexa smiled.  
"A-and, uh…I gave you my honest opinion about how you look, right?" Keith asked nervously.  
"Yeah? What about it?" Alexa asked.  
"Well…you looked pretty in the photo," Keith began timidly. He's still blushing. "But you look more beautiful in person…" Alexa blushed upon hearing Keith's opinion.  
"Thank you, Keith," she said shyly. She, Keith, Ryder and Buizel exited the conference room.

_In the Operations Room…_

Keith, Alexa and Ryder disembarked from the escalator and met up with Chairperson Erma. Three Operators were behind her, at their desks.  
"Hello, dears. I trust you two have been acquainted with one another now?" she asked. "I would like you to meet our three Top Operators. Come along, dears!"  
The three Operators, one of whom looked oddly familiar, left their seats and approached Chairperson Erma.  
"Hello, I'm Marcus," the male operator introduced.  
"My name's Linda," the blue-haired operator said happily.  
"And my name's Rhythmi," Rhythmi stated. "I only graduated about…wait a minute…Keith! Alexa! Hi!"  
"Rhythmi?" Both Keith and Alexa were in shock to see their second friend again.  
_Oh, what the?! Whoa-ho, what a twist!_ Ryder laughed. Erma laughed for a third time.  
"I can assure you, the three of you being here is of no coincidence," she began. "I have heard the three of you made a pledge at the Ascension Square at the Ranger School. Ms April told us about it."  
"Y-yeah, that's right," Alexa confirmed. "We each made our own separate pledges, but we combined them into a promise."  
"That's very sweet, dear," Erma complimented.

**RING-RING-RING-RING!**

Linda went over to her desk and picked up the incoming voicemail.

"Voicemail, voicemail, it's me, Sven," began a mature masculine voice. "Listen, I need some backup down here; I'm on Team Dim Sun's trail, but there're too many of them to handle. Can the Union send a Ranger or two to help me out? Over and out." The transmission ended.  
"A Ranger or two, eh?" Erma pondered. "Then two he shall get. Alexa, Keith, this will be your first mission as Top Rangers, but I want you two to go to the Chroma ruins and meet up with a Ranger named Sven."  
"He wears a red hat, so you can't miss him, really," Marcus added. Alexa and Keith faced each other and nodded. They faced Erma again, looking determined.  
"Alex and I can handle it," Keith confirmed. Alexa nodded in agreement, as do Ryder and Buizel.

_En Route to the Chroma Highlands…_

"Pretty intense stuff," Keith commented, having heard Alexa's more recent missions. "You're so lucky you got to teach an Outdoor class!"  
"I'm sure you'll get the opportunity someday," Alexa said reassuringly. "You just have to be careful about which questions you want to answer."  
"Why, did someone ask you if you wear pyjamas at night?" Keith teased.  
"No, it was a little more personal than that," Alexa stated. She appeared to be annoyed, but blushed at the same time.  
"What did they ask?" Keith asked curiously. He then noticed Alexa's blushing.  
"I really don't fancy recalling it," Alexa admitted.

_In the Chroma Highlands…_

Alexa and Keith entered a very hilly highland. There were various wild Pokémon wandering around the area, but there were mostly resting Carnivine lying around.  
"Is this where we need to meet up with Sven?" Keith asked openly.  
"I think the ruins are further up," Alexa answered. "But we're certainly on the right tracks."  
Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel advanced onwards, heading towards their said destination. Some of the Carnivine woke up and watched the foursome making their way along the highlands. One of the Carnivine eyed Alexa and charged at her. Keith was the only one to notice.  
"Watch out!" he exclaimed, pulling Alexa towards him. The charging Carnivine missed her and tumbled down a small hill. Alexa was left taken aback, as was Ryder.  
_Ow! That had to hurt!_ Ryder winced. Alexa looked towards Keith with a grateful smile.  
"Thanks, Keith," she said gratefully. Ryder looked around cautiously, as did Buizel, but with worry.  
"Bui!" Buizel exclaimed in shock. Alexa, Ryder and Keith looked around; several Carnivine were surrounding them. They all looked ready to charge at the Rangers.  
"Let's get out of here!" Keith yelled, grabbing Alexa's right hand. He, Alexa, Buizel and Ryder ran away, attempting to outrun the continuously charging Carnivine.  
"Why are they trying to attack us?" Alexa pondered as she struggled to keep up with Keith, despite him having a firm grip on her hand.  
"I don't fancy hanging around to find out, to be fair, Alex," Keith replied. "Let's just keep running until we get to the ruins!" Alexa, Ryder and Buizel all nodded in agreement.  
They found a set of stone steps in plain sight ahead of them. They continued running away from the Carnivine, but this made them oblivious to everything else around them.

**THUMP!**

"D'AAAAAGH!" Whilst Ryder and Buizel managed to avoid the attack, the restless Bastiodon purposely tackled into Alex and Keith. The Bastiodon and some of the Carnivine ganged up on the taken down Rangers.  
"Bui-bui!" Buizel cried worriedly.  
"Buizel, Ryder, get to the ruins! We'll meet you there!" Keith shouted back.  
_Buizel, let's go!_ Ryder encouraged Buizel to follow him up the steps; although reluctant, Buizel followed Ryder. Keith and Alexa stood up and held their right arms – and, thus, their stylers – out in front of them.  
"Capture on!" Alexa and Keith fired their capture discs out of their stylers. Alexa's capture disc spun around on the spot as it gained more energy. Keith's capture disc aimed for the Bastiodon. Alexa's capture disc circled around the four Carnivine. Both Alexa and Keith were somehow controlling the directions of their capture discs with their right arms. Eventually, the Carnivine and the Bastiodon were all captured and released.  
"Nice capturing, Alex. How did you do that thing with your capture disc?" Keith asked.  
"Oh, it's the Power Charge feature," Alexa explained, recalling her capture disc back into her styler. "It's something the Fine Styler is capable of. It basically increases the power of the capture disc, making captures easier."  
"Professor Hastings never mentioned anything about that," Keith complained. "How do you know about it?"  
"Research," Alexa answered. "I did some extra studying on my way to Almia. I didn't really have anything else better to do."  
"Speaking of better things to do, let's go up to the ruins to meet our partners," Keith suggested. He and Alexa ran up the stone steps.

_Inside the ruins…_

Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel walked down some stone steps, into a dark cavern underground.  
"These must be the Chroma Ruins alright," Keith commented. He spotted a lone Drifblim hovering around. "Hey, a Drifblim!"  
"Heh; haven't seen one of those in a while," Alex said nostalgically. "Not since I fought Sinnoh's Elite Four anyway."  
"Okay, Alex, I think we should talk about what antics you've been up to before we met," Keith teased. "Anyway, if we need to, we can use a Drifblim to go up a level."  
"That's good to know for the future," Alexa commented. "In the meantime, let's go in deeper."

Eventually, Alexa and Keith – along with Ryder and Buizel – walked through a dark pathway. Keith stopped and smells the air.  
"Ew…what's that smell?" he asked, looking fairly disgusted. In confusion, Alexa sniffed the air with her eyes shut.  
"That's a Skuntank," she stated. Keith faced her in disbelief.  
"How can you tell that from scent alone?" he asked. "And how come you haven't recoiled from it?"  
"I've been around a Skuntank before," Alexa began. "I've gotten used to how they smell."  
_Don't get me started on the said Skuntank's owner,_ Ryder sighed.  
"Bui!" Buizel pointed ahead of him. A lone Skuntank ventured out of a cave on the left hand side. Alexa readied her styler.  
"Capture on!" she fired the capture disc out of her styler. The Skuntank stopped and faced Alexa in confusion as the capture disc surrounded it. The white ring formation enveloped Skuntank with its white glow and captured the Skuntank. It walked over to Alexa. "And that's capture complete."  
"Alex, why did you get the Skuntank?" Keith asked, mildly in disgust.  
"I'm remembering what Sven said via voicemail," Alexa began. "He said there're too many Dim Sun minions to handle, so I thought Skuntank may be helpful in that area."

_A little later…_

Keith, Alexa, Ryder, Buizel and the Skuntank ended up in a deeper part of the caverns, with coloured crystals embedded into the walls around them, making the area appear to be dark blue. They met up with a Luxray and a tall black-haired man with a red hat – Sven, in other words - who appeared to have been waiting. Sven faced Alexa and Keith.  
"Shh! Keep your voices down," he whispered to the two oncoming Rangers. "The name's Sven, this is my Luxray partner."  
"Lux-ray," the Luxray greeted quietly. Alexa gently pet the Luxray on the head. Luxray enjoyed the petting.  
"I'm Keith, and this is Alex," Keith whispered, squinting towards Alexa, who had just ceased the petting.  
"Short for Alexa. Nice to meet you," Alexa whispered. "What's going on here?" she asked quietly.  
"Why don't you two see for yourselves?" Sven offered quietly. Alexa and Keith looked around the corner, along with Sven. They saw a whole hoard of Dim Sun minions around the entire clearing.  
"Looks like we've already cleared out all of the dark stones," one of the minions stated. "There're only the light coloured ones left."  
"Should we get the light coloured ones anyway?"  
"Oh, yeah? Then what would we do with them, make jewellery out of them?"  
"Maybe we can sell them for pocket money."  
"What are you, seven years old?"

"I've heard enough, let's get them," Keith whispered angrily, about to run into the clearing. Sven pulled him – and Alexa – back behind the wall.  
"Whoa, easy," he cautioned, after having pulled the duo back behind the wall. "Let's not rush into anything."  
"How do you suggest we get rid of them then?" Keith asked quietly.  
"Easy. Flush them out of the ruins," Sven responded in a whisper. "I think there's a Pokémon that can emit a powerful stink in these ruins."  
"You mean one of these?" Alexa asked playfully, almost in silence, hinting at the Skuntank she captured earlier.  
"Oh, you've caught it already. I guess you must've had a similar idea," Sven complimented. "Alright, let's get ready. Cover your noses." Alexa, Keith, Sven and the Pokémon all entered the clearing.  
Before the Dim Sun minions had a chance to talk, the Skuntank emitted its intoxicating fragrance from its tail, which spread throughout the whole room. Alexa – having taken a deep breath beforehand – held her right hand over her mouth and nose; a white cloth could be seen in her hand. The minions – and Keith – were all caught off guard by the vile scent, however. The minions fled from the area. As the scent died down, the Skuntank left. Keith hacked and coughed.  
"God! Sven, you could've warned us in advance!" he exclaimed, having barely recovered from the foul stench.  
"I did," Sven replied. Alex removed her hand from her face and went over to Keith, presenting him with the cloth.  
"Here," she offered. Keith took the cloth and sniffed it, curious as to why Alexa was unaffected.  
"How did you do that?" he asked in amazement. Alexa searched her pockets and picked up a small brown bottle with a black lid and a purple label around it.  
"Lavender oil," she replied. "I rubbed it into the cloth a little while back. I knew it would come in handy. I found it in the medical pack my Charizard gave to me back at the Boyleland."  
"Clever thinking," Sven complimented.  
"Alex, mind if I keep this for a while?" Keith asked.  
"Sure, I don't need it anymore," Alexa granted.  
"Okay, now we can press on. Let's go."

_Later…_

Keith, Sven and Alexa came across a large monument standing against the cave wall. There was a large hole in the wall at the top of the monument. Sven, Keith, Alexa and the Pokémon – Ryder gave Buizel a piggyback ride, for some reason – walked up the steps and looked around.  
"It seems we're too late," Sven sighed. "It's already been taken."  
"What has?" Alexa asked.  
"The Shadow Crystal," Sven answered. "It's a very large crystal with darkness embodying it. What I can't understand is why the Pokémon who was supposed to be guarding it allowed it to leave the ruins."  
"The guardian?" Keith questioned.  
"Darkrai, I'll bet," Alexa assumed. "Darkrai is a dark type Pokémon and contains the powers of darkness in its body. Not to mention that Sinnoh legends state that Darkrai is said to be capable of sending Pokémon and humans alike into a terrible nightmare, which can only be cured when a Lunar Wing – provided by Darkrai's rival, Cresselia – is near the victims if Darkrai does not undo its actions on its own. It wouldn't surprise me if Darkrai was supposed to be the gem's guardian."  
"Hey, you're pretty intelligent! Darkrai was supposed to be guarding the Shadow Crystal," Sven confirmed. "I wonder what happened to Darkrai after the crystal was taken… Still, we should find out where this hole leads."

_A short while later…_

Sven climbed up a ladder and found himself by an old shack on a hill just above the Chroma Highlands. He exited the hole, allowing Keith, Alexa and the Pokémon to climb out.  
"Hey, we're back outside," Alexa observed. Sven walked over to a signpost just outside the shack.  
"A-ru O-l," he read out loud. "Altru Oil? This must be where Altru Inc started!" he exclaimed, quickly entering the shack. Keith, Alexa and the Pokémon joined Sven inside.

"Yikes…what a mess," Alexa stated; old pieces of paper and broken chairs were left all over the floor. Sven was looking around.  
"Maybe we can find some clues in here," he commented. "Feel free to have a look around." Keith started assisting Sven in looking around for any said clues. Alexa and Ryder wandered off on their own. They looked at a closed door, with some crates of bean cans nearby, before looking over at a lone desk opposite the door. They approached the desk and found a green book resting in the centre of the desk. Alexa picked up the book and – having taken notice of the book's age – carefully skimmed through it. Eventually, the text became too illegible due to fire damage.  
"Keith! Sven! We've found something!" Alexa shouted. Keith, Buizel, Sven and Luxray ran over to her and Ryder in confusion.  
"What've you got?" Sven asked. He and Keith looked at the diary over Alexa's shoulder.  
"It looks like a diary of sorts," she replied. "It's too hard to read, it's been damaged, possibly by fire."

**FLUSH!**

Alexa, Sven and Keith turned around to face the door; Alexa was confused, but Sven looked cautious and Keith stood in front of Alexa protectively. A familiar face entered the room through the previously closed door.  
"Alexa? Keith? Is that you?" he asked. "When did you two become Rangers?"  
"Ponte?" Alexa and Keith questioned in confusion.  
"You know this guy?" Sven asked.  
"Yeah, he was at Ranger School with Alex and me," Keith answered. "But, Ponte, since when did you become a member of Team Dim Sun?"  
"Oh, this?" Ponte asked, looking at his leotard. "Sure, it's a Team Dim Sun uniform, but I didn't agree with their morals, so I quit the day I joined. You know me, I'm the conflicted marshmallow boy!"  
"So, do you know what happened with the Shadow Crystal?" Sven asked.  
"Oh, yeah. We dug it out of the ruins and us lower members loaded it onto a large helicopter," Ponte explained. "I don't know what it's for, though…"  
"Thanks, we'll take things from here," Sven stated. He, Alexa, Keith and the Pokémon left the shack.

_Outside…_

"Alright, you two, it's time to report back to the Union with our findings," Sven suggested. He, Keith and their partners started to leave. Alexa and Ryder remained behind, thinking things over.  
"Okay, something has to be up," Alexa began. "Why would the hole where the Shadow Crystal used to be lead to an old Altru Inc shack? And what does Team Dim Sun want from the crystal to begin with? This doesn't seem to add up." Ryder shook his head.  
_It can't be a coincidence, Alex. Perhaps we're dealing with something far greater than just a team bent on hypnotising Pokémon,_ he assumed. _Maybe we're dealing with something similar to Team Galactic, barring universal domination._  
"Alex! Come on!" Sven shouted. Alexa and Ryder jumped down the hill and ran over to him and Keith.

_To be continued…_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven - Tears of Princes! The Icy Almia Castle**

_At the Union HQ…_

"Well done on your first mission, you two," Hastings complimented. "That diary Alex found will be very useful, be certain of that."  
"I'm glad that appears to be the case," Alexa began. "I want to get to the bottom of who Team Dim Sun really are."  
"Incidentally, dears," Erma began. "Sven described your performance as flawless. And, Alexa, he even described you as the intelligent one."  
"I wouldn't call it intelligence, ma'am," Alexa modestly began, blushing. "I just have an interest in Pokémon legends and the like."  
"Whatever the case, dears, I shall promote the two of you to Ranger Rank 5," Erma declared.  
"Bui, bui!" Buizel cheered. Alexa and Keith high-fived one another, happy about their promotions.  
_We're advancing in the ranks quickly, huh? Awesome!_ Ryder cheered.  
"You must be worn out by now, dears," Erma assumed. "You may retire to your room."  
"Room?" Keith asked in confusion.  
"Chairperson Erma and I came to a certain agreement," Hastings began. "One of our Ranger bedrooms has two beds in it, not dissimilar to that of a hotel room. Erma and I agreed to let the two of you occupy that room."  
"Come again!?" Keith and Alexa exclaimed in unified shock.  
"Bui!" Buizel appeared to like the news, as he and Ryder high-fived, much like Keith and Alexa did a few seconds ago.  
_Yay, we're roommates!_ Ryder rejoiced. Erma laughed.  
"Don't be so surprised, dears," she began. "Besides, this should allow you two to get to know each other better." Ryder smirked at Alexa.  
_About what you said at the Outdoor Class. Want to take it back?_ He asked cheekily. Alexa looked startled as she blushed. She quickly turned to face Ryder with embarrassment.  
"Whose side are you on?!" she asked distraughtly. Ryder sniggered as Alexa buried her face in her palms out of embarrassment.

_A little while later…_

Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel entered their new bedroom; there were two double beds close to one another; one of them had a navy blue duvet cover set on it, the other had a white duvet set cover one it. Each bed had four pillows. The room itself had been painted purple and had a purple carpet to match. Alexa and Keith were astonished, but Ryder and Buizel took a more optimistic approach; Ryder sat on the white double bed, while Buizel jumped on the blue double bed.  
"Okay…so, we're in the same room," Keith commented nervously. "You okay, Alex?"  
"Um…well, our Pokémon seem to like the arrangement," Alexa replied feebly, with a nervous giggle. "But, um…I'm not sure what to think…"

_A few minutes later…_

Keith and Buizel – on the blue bed – were both getting ready to go to sleep. Keith appeared to be wearing a plain white vest. Alexa entered the room in a different set of pyjamas; her pyjamas were red and her pyjama top was long-sleeved and were shirt-like with a placket front. Keith faced her.  
"Hey, those pyjamas look a bit big for you, don't they?" he asked with curiosity.  
"It's how I like them," Alexa shrugged. "I like wearing baggy clothing, if I'm honest. Particularly T-shirts and the like."  
"Alex, why do I get the feeling that you're hiding something?" Keith asked, mildly with suspicion.  
"It's probably your imagination," Alexa assumed nervously. She then climbed into the white bed and faced Keith once the duvet was over her body. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with wearing baggy clothes, especially if it's just casual attire."  
"That's true, I guess. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, Alex," Keith said, turning off his bedside light. Alexa turned away from him and prepared to go to sleep. Ryder – for some reason – was on the other end of Alex's bed, sleeping in a similar position to that of Buizel's sleeping position; curled up, much like a cat. Alexa yawned.  
"Good night, Keith," she yawned. Alexa eventually closed her eyes softly. Although Keith had his back turned on Alexa – like vice versa – he squinted towards her, with a warm smile on his face.  
"Alex?"  
"Yeah, Keith?"  
"I'm glad we both became Top Rangers…together."

Alexa appeared to be blushing as she developed a warm smile on her face. She fell asleep gently, happy to know of her friend's gratitude.

_The next day…_

"Alex! Alex! Wake up!" Keith exclaimed excitedly. Alexa sighed as she turned onto her back to look up at one very happy Keith.  
"What's gotten you so excited?" she asked sleepily. "And when did you get up?"  
"Six in the morning," Keith answered. Buizel hopped onto Alexa's bed and started to wake Ryder up by shaking him gently. "I couldn't go back to sleep after I woke up, so I've spoken to Chairperson Erma and Professor Hastings." Alexa sat up; her hair appeared to be bushy, but her hair had spread out on her pillow when she turned on her back. She looked up at Keith after rubbing her eyes.  
"What did they say?" she asked with curiosity.  
"They started deciphering that diary you found," Keith began. "I went over to Altru Inc to find out who wrote the diary, and it turned out that Brighton Hall wrote it!"  
"Brighton Hall?" Alexa questioned. Ryder woke up eventually, but he went back to sleep again. Buizel started waking him up again. "As in Blake Hall's father Brighton Hall?"  
"Yeah, that's him!" Keith confirmed. "I think you and Ryder should get out of bed and get to the research room, this could be important."

_A short while later…_

Alexa – dressed in her Pokémon Ranger uniform – and Ryder – who still appeared to be sleepy – entered the research room with Keith and Buizel. Alexa was holding an insulated beverage cup in her left hand. Ryder yawned, politely holding his paw over his mouth.  
"Morning, Alexa, Ryder," Hastings greeted. "You're just in time; Nage is about to explain what he has deciphered."  
"Oh, yeah? Didn't think the diary could be deciphered," Alexa stated. She took a drink from her cup.  
"With technology, it was possible," Hastings said proudly. "Anyway, Nage, would you like to begin your presentation?"  
"Thank you. To put it simply," Nage began. "Brighton Hall started to find alternative energy sources when he came across small black stones. They fascinated him, so he decided to have them collected. And that's all we can decipher at the moment, I'm afraid."  
"And the black stones were identical to the one found in the Gigaremo?" Alexa asked with curiosity.  
"That is indeed correct," Hasting confirmed, walking over to a small pedestal; it had a black stone inside a glass dome. "But how to stop these stones from activating is still a mystery." Murph walked over to the pedestal.  
"So that little stone came from the Shadow Crystal, huh?" he questioned.

_FLASH!_

"Aagh!" Alexa was taken slightly aback at the sudden flash of blue light. Murph's chest appeared to be glowing in the same blue light.  
"What the!?" Keith also became startled at the flash.  
"What's this? The power of the dark stone is plummeting!" Hastings exclaimed. "Murph, what are you hiding in your chest?!"  
"I'm not hiding anything," Murph answered.

_FLASH!_

"Quit doing that!" Alexa complained, having been taken aback at the second flash of light.  
"Oh, is it my pendant?" Murph asked. "It's a stone my Pa found in Hia Valley. I think it's called the Tears of Princes."  
Professor Hastings – having heard what Murph revealed and having seen the effect on the dark stone – paced around as he pondered his next course of action. He faced Alexa and Keith soon after.  
"Alexa, don't just stand there!" he exclaimed. "Go to Hia Valley and find the Tears of Princes! It's a mission! A mission!" he yelled hastily. "Sorry; but this is an interesting development."  
"It's okay," Alexa said, in a forgiving tone.  
"Keith, I need you to stay here and assist me," Hastings said calmly.  
"Damn. Sorry, Alex. I think you're on your own for this," Keith sighed.  
"Don't worry about it, Keith," Alexa laughed. "Ryder and I can look after each other."  
"Alexa, I need to tell you how to get to Hia Valley," Murph began. "There's a river south of the Union. You can take a Floatzel up the river and into Crysta Cave. Go through the cave, and you're in Hia Valley."  
"Thanks, Murph," Alexa thanked.

_Later…_

Riding on a Floatzel, Alexa and Ryder entered a dark cave. They found a wooden 'pier' and dismounted from the Floatzel. Floatzel swam away afterwards. Alexa and Ryder progressed through the cave. They soon found themselves nearly at the end, when Alexa suddenly stopped in her tracks.  
"Snow?! Aw, crap! I hate snow!" she complained. Regardless, she and Ryder exited the cave.

_Outside…_

"Brrrr! I should've brought a coat or something!" Alexa exclaimed, holding herself in an attempt to warm herself up slightly.  
"No, I will not allow you to get to Empoleon!" a stern male voice fumed in the distance. Alexa and Ryder found two Dim Sun minions – with a Miniremo unit and a hypnotised Houndoom – confronting a man in a blue fleece jacket standing in front of a wounded Empoleon.  
"Come on, Mr Researcher, we need that Empoleon to get to Almia Castle," one of the minions stated simply.  
"But it's wounded!" the researcher protested angrily.  
"Put a little spit on it! And a bandage and it'll be fine!" the second minion said insensitively. "But if you won't hand it over, we'll take it by force," he sighed, typing in something into the Miniremo. The Houndoom walked over to the researcher and Empoleon, who took steps back.  
"W-what's wrong Houndoom?" the researcher asked nervously.  
"Hey!" Alexa and Ryder immediately raced onto the scene and stepped in front of the researcher. "Leave them alone, they haven't done anything to you!"  
"A Ranger!? Just our luck," the first minion complained. "Oh well; Houndoom, get the Ranger first!"  
"You'd like to think that's going to work, wouldn't you?" Alexa asked teasingly, readying her styler. "Capture on!" she exclaimed, releasing her capture disc. Oddly, it wasn't long before the Houndoom was captured and freed, once the Miniremo exploded. Fearful, the minions ran away.  
"Thank you, Ranger," the man sighed gratefully. Alex and Ryder faced him and Empoleon.  
"Is Empoleon going to be alright?" Alexa asked.  
"Yes, it'll be fine. By the way, my name's Pamur," the man introduced. "I lead the research team in the Shiver Camp."  
"I'm Alexa," Alexa said, in a friendly voice. "This is my partner Pokémon, Ryder."  
_Yo,_ Ryder greeted.  
"You're from the Ranger Union, aren't you?" Pamur asked. "Do you know if my son, Murph, is doing well?"  
"Actually, he's why I'm here," Alexa laughed. "We're here about the… Tears of Princes, I believe they're called?"

_Legend has it that long ago, even before it was filled with snow, Almia Castle was ruled by a king with three sons. The king wanted peace for Almia but his vigorous sons changed all this. He banished all three of his sons. One in red went to a volcano. One in yellow went to a desert. The youngest prince, one in blue, was allowed to stay._

_The next day…_

Alexa and Ryder – on Empoleon back – arrived outside a large castle. Alexa and Ryder dismounted from Empoleon's back and it swam away. Alex and Ryder then proceeded to enter the castle.

_Inside the castle, a little later on…_

Alex and Ryder came across an area of the castle, where a path of thick ice was the only way to get across the gap in the floor.  
"Oh…crap…" Alexa looks as thought she's seen a ghost.  
_What's the matter, scared?_ Ryder asked playfully.  
"I'm not scared of the ice breaking, Ryder, I just can't skate!" Ryder faced Alexa with a teasing look on his face.  
_No way, you're not, are you?_ He asked teasingly  
"Alright then, I'll show you!" Alexa sighed as she stepped onto the ice. She appeared to be sliding along the ice slowly and attempted to skate. However…  
"Wh-wh-whooaa! Aagh!" Alexa lost her footing and fell on her backside. "I'm okay!" Ryder looked towards Alexa in shock and blinked twice.

_A little while later…_

After having cleared through the ice room, Alexa and Ryder managed to find themselves in a room with two Riolu statues at the other end of the room. The statues seemed to be emitting a force field in between them, prohibiting access to the room ahead. A blue haired man dressed in blue and white stood in front of the force field, pondering.  
"I heard someone come in," he said to himself. He turned around and found Alexa and Ryder approaching him. "Let me guess; you're a kid pretending to be an ice-skating Pokémon Ranger. Bingo, eh?"  
"No-go," Alexa huffed. "I'm 17 years old and I can't ice-skate to save my life. Who are you to make that judgement towards me?" The man laughed.  
"Sorry, sorry. Chill, all right? Don't get angry. My name's Ice," he said calmly. "I'm just joking, I know you're a Top Ranger."  
"Chill? That's easily done in a place like this," Alexa said sarcastically. "And Ice? Sounds appropriate if you consider where we are."  
"So, do you have a name? Everyone has one, so I'm sure you have one," Ice said calmly.  
"Not that it's any business of yours," Alexa began. "My name is Alexa."  
"Alexa-noob?" Ice asked teasingly.  
"I am not a noob!" Alexa shouted furiously.  
_I think he's been on the Internet for too long,_ Ryder sighed.  
"Need I remind you, Ryder, that you yourself have been on the Internet one time too many?" Alexa asked playfully.  
"Oh, no noob at the end then? That's true, I suppose," Ice began. "From what I've heard, there wouldn't be."  
"What do you mean by that?" Alexa asked. "Have you heard about what happened in the hidden harbour?"  
"And I must admit, you're a sneaky one," Ice replied. "You and your partner are after something blue, aren't you?"  
"Y-yeah…doesn't look like we can get through, given the barrier," Alexa muttered. "How do you know?"  
"One of my guys overheard your ridiculously loud voicemail in Shiver Camp," Ice replied. "Anyway, what do you say we team up? You use your styler to distract the guardian and I'll swipe the gem. Come on. I'll buy you an ice cream soda for afterwards."  
"Do you think I'd fall for that?" Alexa asked. Ryder looked between the two Riolu statues. He had an idea and ran off. Alexa turned to him in astonishment. "Ryder, get back here!"  
"Doesn't seem like your partner's interested," Ice commented. Alexa turned to face him again, only to find a Miniremo out in front of him. "I suppose this is all I can do for now," he added, typing something on the Miniremo. A hypnotised Froslass appeared and ambushed Alex from behind.

_Elsewhere…_

Ryder entered a small room. A lone Riolu was about to attack Ryder, but Ryder grunted at Riolu, stopping the little Pokémon in its tracks. Ryder communicated with the Riolu and vice versa. The two eventually reached an agreement and shook paws. The two Pokémon left the room.

_Meanwhile…_

"Whoa!" Alexa leapt away from the sprouting icicle whilst maintaining her control over her capture disc. The Froslass was fighting back viciously. Ice watched her, looking surprisingly impressed.

_Back with Ryder…_

Ryder and the Riolu encountered a second Riolu in a different room. The two Riolu communicated with one another, presumably discussing Ryder's purpose for speaking with them. Eventually, the second Riolu decided to help the first Riolu help Ryder out with whatever he asked of them.

_Back with Alexa…_

**BOOM!**

The Miniremo unit Ice had was destroyed upon Froslass's successful capture. The Froslass then left the area.  
"Yeah…you're much better than I expected," Ice commented. "Next time we meet, I won't be so careless."  
"Next time?" Alexa questioned. Ice started to casually walk out of the room. He stopped when he's right next to Alexa.  
"Oh, and that blue thing you wanted? I don't need to bother getting it," he said softly into Alexa's ear. "The Pokémon guarding it is probably too much for you anyway."  
"I won't know that until I see for myself," Alexa stated sternly. Ice chuckled.  
"I won't blame you for trying, though," he told her. "I'll see you around, Alexa." He then left the room. Ryder returned to the room, accompanied by the two Riolu.  
"Ryder? Why are the Riolu here?" Alexa asked in confusion. She and Ryder watched as the two Riolu approached the force field.  
Holding out their paws in front of the barrier, they caused the entire room to shine in a bright light. Once the flash faded, the barrier was non-existent. The Riolu then started to leave, communicating with Ryder along the way. Alexa faced Ryder in confusion.  
"Ryder, you knew how to deactivate that thing?" she queried. Ryder smiled and nodded once in confirmation. He and Alexa pressed on.

_In the next room…_

"Wh-whoa!" Alexa quickly took hold of the wall nearest to her; the floor underneath her and Ryder is icy and slippery. "I really hate ice…"  
_Which one, the substance or the bloke?_ Ryder asked playfully with a smirk on his face. Alexa faced him in confusion, but then laughed.  
"Yeah, and the person!" she laughed. Her styler received a voicemail transmission. She answered the communication.  
"Voicemail, it's me, Rhythmi," Rhythmi stated. "We're getting indications of a strong Pokémon up ahead. Are you ready for it?"  
"I'll have to be if we want that blue gem," Alexa replied. "By the way, just to check in, how're things at the union?"  
"Alexa, Hastings here," Hastings declared. "We haven't gotten any further with the diary's deciphering, but we'll keep going."  
"Alex, this is Keith," Keith began. "Are you okay over there? Is it too cold for you?" he asked, showing his concern.  
"To put it simply, I hate ice," Alexa sighed in response. "I'm also feeling some mild frostbite, but other than that, I'm fine."  
"Remember, you can always ask if you need help," Keith reminded. "In the meantime, I'll be waiting for you to return."  
"And it won't be empty handed either," Alexa promised, ending the transmission. She and Ryder entered the next room.

They saw six unlit lanterns – three on either side – lined along the pathway leading to a shining blue teardrop shaped gemstone. Alexa and Ryder slowly moved closer to the gem.

**FOO!**

Alexa and Ryder turned around in astonishment; two of the lanterns just lit on fire.

**FOO! FOO!**

The other four lanterns were set alight, much to the mutual astonishment of Alexa and Ryder.

**GYAAROO!**

Alexa and Ryder looked around before facing the gem in confusion. They instantly become startled as they beheld the gem's guardian; a Lucario.  
"Wow…a Lucario…that kind of explains the Riolu statues outside," Alexa said nervously to Ryder.  
_Suddenly it feels like I'm seeing myself,_ Ryder began. _Only his fur is lighter and he has red eyes._

**GYAAROO!**

The guardian Lucario ran towards Alexa and Ryder and ran rapidly around them. Alexa and Ryder looked around as Lucario ran around them, but they became mildly dizzy as a result. The duo soon recovered from the dizziness and they prepared to challenge the Lucario.

"Capture on!" Alexa yelled, firing her capture disc from her styler. She let the disc spin on the spot while it charged up. Alexa then started spinning it around the Lucario.

**GYAAROO!**

The Lucario fired a small barrage of Aura Spheres at the capture disc. However, it missed the capture disc and missed the capture line. The disc continued to circle around the guardian Lucario. Regardless of how much it jumped around, the capture disc managed to keep up with Lucario.

**GYAAROO!**

Lucario fired two balls of aura, which landed on the ground. The balls became two lumps of damaging aura. The capture disc accidentally made its capture line make contact with the aura lump and the capture line was negated.  
"Perfect timing," Alexa smirked. "Okay, Ryder, you can do your stuff!" she exclaimed. Ryder fired an Aura Sphere from his paws and it collided with the capture disc. Absorbing the Aura Sphere's power, the capture line turned red as a result of the extra power. The capture disc circled around the guardian Lucario.

_GYAAROO!_

Much to Alexa and Ryder's unified horror, the guardian Lucario surrounded itself with blue aura, allowing it to fire a larger barrage of Aura Spheres – all of which missed the capture disc in total – and to created more lumps of aura on the ground – which the capture disc dodged narrowly. Alexa looked exhausted.  
"This guy's really hurting my arm," she complained. "I'm not sure how long I need to keep this up…" Ryder moved in front of Alexa and got a hold of her right arm with his right arm; Ryder was assisting Alexa with her capturing in a whole new way. The guardian Lucario noticed Ryder's action and a smile crept onto its face.

**GYAAROO!**

Its cloak of aura faded away, returning the guardian Lucario back to its normal strength. However, the capture disc had done its job as the white ring formation of light ensnared Lucario and, with a flash of white light, was befriended. Alexa and Ryder relaxed.

"And that's capture complete," Alexa sighed. "Thanks for the extra help, Ryder," she thanked gratefully. Ryder nodded at her with a friendly smile on his face.  
_Sure, it's never a problem,_ he responded.

**GYAAROO!**

The guardian Lucario held its paw in front of it, causing the blue gem to lose its extra flash of light, which apparently served protective purposes. Lucario then faced Alexa and Ryder as it approached them. Ryder approached the Lucario with curiosity as to what it wanted from them. Lucario held out its left paw to Ryder. Curious, yet cautious, Ryder rested his right paw on the Lucario's left paw.

_ZZZZZTT!_

**GYAAROO!**

Ryder feels a sudden electric shock as he became surrounded with bodily aura – presumed to be his own – whilst he kept his paw on Lucario's. Lucario also had its bodily aura surrounding it, but it failed to inflict pain on it. After a while, Ryder's bodily aura stopped giving him pain as it calmed down. Both bodily auras faded away. Alexa was left confused about the whole thing, but the guardian Lucario ran off.  
"Ryder…what did that Lucario do to you?" she asked. Ryder squinted back at her.  
_I can only assume that he gave me the extra power to use the ability we witnessed,_ he shrugged.  
"Extra power? So, wait, Lucario gave you the ability to make yourself temporarily stronger by surrounding yourself with your own aura?" Ryder nodded at Alexa.  
_Presumably. Now, let's get the gem,_ he suggested. Alexa and Ryder approached the blue teardrop shaped gem and collected it. The two of them – with their mission cleared – exited the area.

_To be continued…_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve - Blue Gem Obtained! Two More Left!**

_At the Ranger Union..._

"Welcome back, dear," Erma greeted. She, Alexa, Ryder and Professor Hastings were all up in the Operations Room. "Oh, dear, your face is all red from frostbite! You must've been terribly cold, dear."  
"I'm alright now," Alexa reassured. "Besides, I have a souvenir from up north for you," she teased, pulling out the blue teardrop-shaped gem.  
"Is that the Blue Gem?" Hastings asked.  
"The one and only! Unless someone's made counterfeits," Alexa laughed. "But this is the genuine article right here."  
"You've done well! Good job!" Hastings complimented happily. Erma stepped over to Alexa.  
"You've certainly earned a commendation for this achievement," she began. "Alexa, I'm promoting you to Ranger Rank 6."  
"Thank you, ma'am," Alexa thanked modestly. Ryder looked at his paws; he apparently looked bewildered, having suddenly remembered the 'commendation' Lucario gave to him.  
"You look wrung out, dear. I'll let you take the rest of the afternoon off," Erma stated politely.  
"Thank you. Oh, by the way," Alexa began. "Do you know a good place where Ryder can get some potential training done?" she asked.  
"Training? Well, there's a vast open plain in the Vien Forest," Hastings began. "Perhaps it's best to go there."  
"Thanks, Professor," Alexa thanked.

_In Vien Forest…_

Alexa stood a hollow log up vertically. She then ran over to Ryder, who appeared to be uneasy.  
"Okay, Ryder, before we start, are you sure you want to perfect Psychic?" she asked. "If you'd like, I can find out what other attacks are in a Lucario's repertoire and teach you anything you want from it." Ryder faced her. His sensors lift up.  
_No, Alex, I'm alright,_ Ryder stated. _Besides, I want to perfect Psychic in case there's a situation that calls for it, like the first time I tried it._  
"Yes, I know, Ryder," Alexa began. "But that was a fluke back then; after that, you've been having troubles with it."  
_Believe me, Alex; I really want to perfect this move,_ Ryder insisted. _I don't think it was a fluke that I used it the first time around._  
"I know that's what you believe, Ryder," Alexa began. "That's why I want to do some training with you, especially now that we have the afternoon off."  
_So, do I try using Psychic on the log over there?_ Ryder asked in confusion.  
"Yep, that's the idea," Alexa confirmed. "We can start by trying to knock it back with Psychic."  
_Very well._ Ryder faced the log standing ahead of him. He held his paws out in front of him and pulled his arms in afterwards. He closed his eyes and concentrated. His eyes opened and he extended his arms quickly; his eyes were glowing blue, and the log soon glowed in the same hue. The log wobbled for a little bit before it stopped shaking; it stayed standing. Ryder sighed with disappointment.  
"Don't be so down, Ryder, it's just practise, that's all," Alexa said reassuringly. "You'll get the hand of it."  
I know, but if only I could recall how I used Psychic the first time, I could practise with that technique. Ryder sighed sadly.  
"Hey, cheer up. You'll get it eventually," Alexa said softly, giving her saddened partner a gentle cuddle.  
"Yo, Alexa!" shouted a familiar voice. Alexa and Ryder looked towards where the voice came from and they saw Barlow running over to them. Ryder pondered about the Psychic technique to himself.  
"Hi, Barlow!" Alexa exclaimed happily. "It's been a while, how've you been?" she asked.  
"I'm great, thanks for asking," Barlow answered. "What're you doing out here anyways?"  
"Oh, Ryder wants to perfect Psychic, so we're getting some training done," Alexa explained. "I think it's been eating away at him for a while."  
"I see. And what's so special about Psychic?" Barlow asked with curiosity. Alexa looked over at Ryder.  
"He's used it once before. Perfectly too. But it was a fluke," Alexa continued. "Since then, he hasn't been able to grasp it. I think him being my partner Pokémon has made him somewhat stronger, so I think we're ready to try grasping it again." Ryder stands back onto his feet and looks over at Alex.  
_Alex, I think I know how to utilise Psychic's power,_ he stated. _Mind if I try it again?_  
"Sure, Ryder, go right ahead," Alexa nodded. Ryder stepped in front of Alexa and shut his eyes.

Ryder's eyes opened sharply; his eyes were glowing blue once more. He held out his right paw, which also appeared to be glowing with the same light as his eyes. The log glowed as well and was lifted off the ground slightly.  
"Is that Psychic?" Barlow asked.  
"So far so good, yeah," Alexa confirmed quietly.  
Ryder had full control over the log. He allowed his left paw to share the control as it glowed blue like his right paw. He held his left paw above his right paw, and the log turned horizontal. Ryder then clapped his paws together, and the log snapped in half, almost concurrently with Ryder's clap. Ryder relaxed as his glowing paws and eyes returned to their original states. He appeared to be in shock.  
_Alex. Did I just use Psychic?_ He asked with curiosity. Alexa cuddled him from behind, smiling happily.  
"You did it, Ryder!" she exclaimed happily. "See, I knew you could do it!"  
"Impressive stuff," Barlow complimented. "If you see that Kincaid guy again, be sure to prove him wrong."  
"Oh yeah! I forgot he escaped with a Gliscor!" Alexa exclaimed in realisation. "Next time we see him, I'll make it so his ass is handed to him!"  
_I'll make him pay for trying to use me as his minion. And if he tries anything on you, Alex, I'll protect you._ Ryder promised towards Alexa.

_Later…_

Keith was lying on his bed, relaxing. Buizel was nearby on the bed, enjoying some Pokémon snack. Alexa and Ryder entered the room and jump onto her bed happily. Keith looked over at her.  
"Where've you two been?" he asked curiously. "I heard you've had the afternoon off, but I couldn't find you around here."  
"We went to the Vien Forest," Alexa replied. "Long story short, Ryder has finally mastered his Psychic attack!"  
"Oh yeah?"  
_I'm hungry,_ Ryder said to himself. His eyes glowed blue, as did his paw while he held his right arm out in front of him. A jar of Pokémon snack – next to the coffee machine on the desk – glowed and was lifted off of the desk. Keith and Buizel watched with amazement as the jar of Pokémon snack moved over to Ryder. Once Ryder had the jar in his paws, the glowing faded and he opened the jar. He started happily eating the Pokémon snack.  
"And you've just seen it in action," Alexa laughed. "I think he just needed to remember how he used it last time."  
"That's all well and good," Keith began. "But don't you think you should try having Ryder use it in a battle?"

"Bui! Bui, bui, bui!" Buizel hopped up onto his feet, looking rather eager. Alexa was astonished.  
"Buizel wants Ryder to use Psychic on him to find out," she translated quietly. Ryder swallowed his Pokémon snack in astonishment, having heard what it was Buizel wanted.  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Keith asked.  
"No, but I have got plenty of Pokémon medical supplies," Alexa stated reluctantly. "If Buizel gets seriously hurt, I can cure him. Are you sure you want to be attacked, Buizel?"  
"Bui!" Buizel nodded. "Bui bui!"  
"Okay then…Ryder, you heard Buizel," Alexa stated, still reluctantly. Ryder faces Buizel.  
_If you say so,_ Ryder sighed. His eyes glowed blue, much like his paw once his right arm was held out in front of him. Buizel glowed in the same light.  
"Bui…!" Buizel appeared to be in pain. The longer Ryder held his Psychic attack, the more pain Buizel suffered from. Keith watched anxiously, worried about his partner Pokémon. "BUIIIII!" Buizel cried out in agony; Ryder's Psychic was stronger than it looked.  
"Ryder, that's enough!" Alexa cried. Ryder relaxed as the glowing faded away. Buizel was no longer glowing, and he fainted on the bed.  
"Buizel!" Keith moved over to the fainted Buizel and held him in his arms. "You okay? Say something!"  
"He's fainted," Alexa sighed, moving over to Keith with a medical pack. She sat on Keith's bed and rummaged through the bag. "But don't worry, I know what to do." She pulled out two small spray bottles; one was yellow, the other was cream-coloured with a red base.  
"What are those?" Keith asked curiously.  
"The yellow one is the spray version of an item called a 'Revive'," Alex began. "The other one is a Super Potion."  
"What do they do?" Keith asked.  
"The Revive is a one-time use item," Alexa continued. "It holds only one spray, but it revives a fainted Pokémon, but it doesn't heal it completely. The Super Potion is a healing item that is good for healing Pokémon such as Buizel or Raticate, since they can withstand more attacks than a Caterpie, for example, but they can't withstand as much damage as Pokémon like Lucario, in which case a Hyper Potion is recommended."  
"Oh." Keith watched as Alexa gave Buizel the single spray of Revive. Buizel was instantly woken up.  
"Bui…!" Buizel flinched in pain. Keith helped Buizel to sit up as Alexa prepared to get the Super Potion. She was about to use it herself, but she had second thoughts.  
"Hey, Keith…maybe you should use it," she suggested, offering him the cream and red spray bottle.  
"What? But I don't know the first thing about healing Pokémon!" Keith exclaimed.  
"You don't need to with a healing spray," Alexa countered. "It's a doddle; just hold the spray above Buizel's injuries at a certain distance and spray."  
"Are you sure I can do it?" Keith asked worriedly.  
"Don't worry, I'll help you," Alexa smiled. She went behind Keith, as he got ready to spray. He aimed it at Buizel's back.  
"Okay…" Keith's nervous, as indicated by his shaking arm. Alexa used her right arm to steady Keith's arm. He looked over at her.  
"Just relax. The spray does all the work," she said softly.  
Keith faced Buizel again. He carefully pulled the trigger as a spray of liquid spewed out of the bottle.  
"Bui…!" Buizel flinched in pain. This made Keith more nervous as he recoiled.  
"You'll be fine, Buizel," Alexa reassured. "It will sting a little, but you'll feel a lot better afterwards." She looked at Keith. "And don't worry if the Pokémon flinches; it's common when a spray is used on a sensitive injury. Just relax."  
"Sorry," Keith apologised. He continued to spray Buizel's back with the ointment. Soon, Buizel stood up and stretched; he was no longer in any pain.  
"There we go. Didn't I say that he was going to be fine?" Alexa smiled. Keith faced her, smiling.  
"Thanks, Alex," he thanked quietly. Alexa smiled at him in return.

_The next morning…_

On the roof of the Ranger Union, Alexa, Keith, Buizel, Ryder, Erma, Hastings and Murph were gathered around two pedestals; one was larger than the other, the latter pedestal being the dark stone trapped inside the glass dome, while the former was empty and placed next to the large tree nearby.  
"I've developed a special amplification system for this test," Hastings began. "It draws from the vitality of our Tree of Harmony. You see this dais for the Blue Gem, yes? The goal is to project the Blue Gem's power throughout all of Almia."  
_Professor, are you sure the one gem alone will work efficiently?_ Ryder asked curiously.  
"We won't know if it will work unless we try, dear," Erma replied towards Ryder. "We'll have to wait and see."  
"Alexa, can you place the Blue Gem onto the dais please?" Hastings requested. Alexa – with the Blue Gem in hand – walked over to the dais and placed the gem on top of it.  
Everyone watched as the Blue Gem shone brightly as a certain pulse was emitted from it. The pulse was brief, but was unleashed into the atmosphere. The Blue Gem continued to shine brightly.  
"Incoming report!" Rhythmi exclaimed, running onto the rooftop. "The Pokémon in Pueltown have stopped rampaging! They're back to normal!"  
"So far so good," Alexa stated quietly.  
"Oh, wait, I'm getting another report through the wireless system," Rhythmi stated calmly. She waited for a few seconds. "Wow! Pokémon were being forced to march in the Vien Forest! They're out of hypnosis too!"  
"Ah-hah! Just as I'd thought! A resounding success!" Hastings exclaimed happily. "The Blue Gem has the power to negate the Shadow Crystal! Incidentally, is the Dark Shard affected at all?"  
"Let's see…" Murph walks over to the Dark Shard and looks at a meter. "It's only lost one third of its power. Is that a success?"  
"One third…? Why does that sound so ominous to me?" Alex asked herself. Ryder folded his arms.  
_Sounds more foreshadowing than ominous, if I'm honest, Alex._ He assumed. Linda ran onto the rooftop.  
"Uh-oh, I've got bad news!" she exclaimed. "There're still hypnotised Pokémon in Vien Forest! Oh, wait, more news is coming in through my earpiece. The Pueltown Pokémon are back under hypnosis!"  
"Why isn't it working?!" Hastings panicked. "Is the Blue Gem not enough? Is Ryder's speculation accurate?"  
_Oh, you know it is, Prof, you know it is,_ Ryder smirked proudly.  
"Ryder, don't be so arrogant," Alexa warned quietly.

**FLASH!**

"Aaagh!" Alexa was taken aback at the sudden yellow flash. Rhythmi's chest appeared to be glowing in a yellow light.  
"Wh-what's this?! It's pretty!" Rhythmi exclaimed excitedly.

**FLASH!**

"Not again!" A sudden flash of red light momentarily blinded Alexa. Linda's chest was glowing in the same light.  
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! My chest is shining too!" she observed in shock. "Now what do we have here?!" Hastings asked in horror. "You, shiny people, step closer to the Dark Shard!" he exclaimed hastily. "Don't just stand there in a daze, Murph, you step closer too!"  
Rhythmi, Linda and Murph all moved closer to the Dark Shard and the pedestal it was trapped in.

**FLASH!**

"Stop flashing!" Alexa complained, having been momentarily blinded by the flash once again.  
"Wow! It's the shine of youth!" Murph exclaimed happily.

**FLASH!**

"I said stop!" Alexa complained again, still blinded by the flashing.  
"It's getting brighter!" Rhythmi exclaimed.  
"It's too bright!" Linda added.  
"What's this?! The Dark Shard is growing transparent!" Hastings observed, noticing the drastic colour change of the black stone. "Oh! The meter's dropped to zero like we had all hoped! Linda, Rhythmi, what are you hiding in your chests?"  
"Is it my pendant that's shining?" Rhythmi asked. "It's a souvenir from Sven, from the Haruba Desert."  
"What did you say?!" Linda protested. "My pendant's a gift from Sven as well, from the Boyleland!"  
"Are you implying something?! My pendant's prettier than yours, Linda!" Rhythmi argued. Alexa and Keith looked utterly bewildered as they witnessed the bickering.  
"So what if it's pretty?! My pendant's bigger than yours!" Linda argued back.  
"Prettiness is more important!"  
"Oh, no it's not! Size is what matters more!"  
"Stop your silly squabbling!" Hastings exclaimed abruptly. "The reaction resulted from the three pendants is what is more important. Three coloured stones brought about this reaction. They harmonise to negate the darkness, I suspect. Now, how do we proceed from here…? I must investigate this matter…"  
"Until Professor Hastings is done studying, it is best if the Rangers go out on patrol," Erma began. "When you are done, please report back to me, dears."  
"Roger that, ma'am," Alexa complied.

_A little later on…_

"Alex, wait up!" Keith shouted. He and Buizel eventually caught up to Alexa and Ryder, who were currently walking down the Union Road.  
"What's up, Keith?" Alexa asked.  
"Nothing. I just thought we could patrol together," Keith replied. "Y'know, so we can talk about what I missed when you went to Hia Valley."  
"Oh, yeah, sure. We weren't going anywhere in particular, and it'll be nice to keep each other up to speed," Alexa agreed. They walked off together.

_Around Vien Forest…_

"So this guy actually tried to fool you into teaming up with him?" Keith asked. "Glad you refused."  
"I wasn't going to fall for any of his shenanigans," Alexa scoffed. "By the way, thanks for looking out for me."  
"What do you mean?" Keith asked.  
"When I checked in on the union when Rhythmi made contact with me. You were the only one concerned about my well-being while I was there," Alexa explained.  
"Oh. Y-yeah, you're welcome," Keith said shyly. "How did the final capture go?" he asked.  
"It was a Lucario," Alexa replied. "And it wasn't very easy. This one actually fought back. Not that I'm surprised, it had something to protect."  
"But you at least managed to befriend it, right?" Keith asked.  
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Alexa confirmed. "But then it did something with Ryder that I found odd."  
"What was that then?" Keith questioned.  
"I'm not sure, but from what I could tell," Alexa began. "I think Lucario gave Ryder the ability to make his attacks stronger by granting him the ability to cloak himself in his own aura. Like Lucario did during the capture."  
"Is that what Lucario do?" Keith asked.  
"I've heard about it, but I've never seen it happen before," Alexa replied. "But now I know it's true."  
_Hurt like hell, though,_ Ryder sighed as he looked up at Alex. _Maybe that's what allowed me to perfect Psychic._  
"It might've been, Ryder," Alexa agreed.  
"I don't think we'll know for sure," Keith assumed. "Hey, Alex? Do you mind if I ask you something personal?" he asked nervously. They all stopped in their tracks, as Alexa looked at Keith, mildly astonished.  
"What is it, Keith?" she asked.  
"This is something I've been wondering about for a while now," Keith began. "I paid a visit to the Vientown Ranger base just after you left for Hia Valley yesterday. I was asking everyone about your reaction to hearing that you've become a Top Ranger. They told me that you said something about your friends back home."  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah. They told me you said you've never had real friends who kept in touch before," Keith continued. "So here's what I want to ask you. In all honesty, Alex…how did they treat you?" he asked sensitively. Buizel and Ryder secretly left Alexa and Keith alone to talk.

Alexa looked down at her feet glumly upon hearing Keith's question; it was something she hadn't truly considered thinking about.  
"I can't really describe it well," she finally stated. She took her keychain off of her shorts, rested it on her right palm – holographic side up – and looked at it. "At first, I'd meet my 'friends' after they challenged me to a battle; I'd beat them, but we'd somehow engage in a longer conversation before they promise to keep in touch with me after exchanging Poké Gear numbers, but...they never did."  
"Really?" Keith was shocked at how Alexa described her relationship with her home friends. "Why do you think that was?"  
"I have no clue," Alexa answered truthfully. As truthful as she was, the pain of having to recollect her time with her former friends and their false promises were close to leaving her in tears. A teardrop fell onto her keychain. "They were never angry that I ended up defeating them and they seemed genuinely nice - so why didn't they bother keeping their promise?!" she cried angrily, clutching her keychain. A second teardrop fell on her clenched fist.  
"That's just sick." Keith – upon hearing Alexa's woeful tale – had an angry look on his face.  
"I know! At first, I thought it was a one-off, but then I realised most of them shrugged me off in a heartbeat!" Alexa exclaimed tearfully. "A handful of them contacted me every now and then, but I only met with ONE of them face to face since I met them - even then, SHE didn't bother to get back into contact with me either!"  
"These Pokémon battles…are they a fad or something?" Keith asked sensitively. He appeared to be feeling pitiful for his distraught friend.  
"No, it's something every Pokémon Trainer engages in," Alexa replied, as calmly as possible. Alas, her emotions were too high for her to maintain a calm disposition. "But, after a while, I just gave up on trying to meet human friends..."  
"So you had no friends?" Keith asked in astonishment.  
"Not before Ranger School!" Alexa cried sadly. "E-Even then, I didn't think I would make new friends..." Alexa opened up her right hand and looked at her keychain again. "Because I was always getting dropped..."  
"What?! Just like that?!" Keith asked in horror.

"Just like that...!" Alexa wept. "I-I thought friends were supposed to be there for one another; y'know, l-like how a Pokémon is there for the Trainer or Ranger! ...m-makes me wonder if that's all a lie..."  
"That's not true," Keith began softly. Confused, Alexa faced him. She appeared to be holding her keychain close to her. "Everything you knew about friendship is still the truth; you've just never truthfully experienced what it means to have real friends. I don't know who your so-called friends were, Alex, but I can tell you that, from what I know about you already, their reasons for dropping you weren't your fault. You're an amazing friend, a very skilled Ranger, an intelligent girl and an all-round fantastic person that I am truly grateful to have met." He rested his hands on Alexa's shoulders to comfort her. "And if those people you befriended can't see how wonderful you really are, then they can't be called your friends - they're not worth your time and, honestly, they don't deserve it either."  
"Keith…" Hearing such sincere words from her friends had made Alexa more emotional. Her tears fell down her face more constantly. Keith used his right hand to take off a keychain from his shorts and rested the item in his palm; the keychain was a red miniature Swiss Army knife. Alexa looked at it before holding out her right hand – with her Milotic keychain in the palm – next to Keith's.  
"Real friends care for each other," Keith added. "Our souvenirs prove how legit and how meaningful our friendship really is. I used mine when a herd of Tauros got caught in a poacher's net."  
"I used mine to fend of a delinquent Gligar," Alexa began. "By using it to reflect the sun's light in Gligar's eyes."  
"Precisely. Even though we were in different regions," Keith continued. "We helped each other through our souvenirs." Keith and Alexa pocketed their keychains before facing each other eye to eye. "And if I meet these chumps you thought were going to be your friends right here in Almia, I'll be sure to tell them about how amazingly fantastic you really are, just like what they should've realised in the first place."  
"Keith, I…" Alexa's words trailed off. She could no longer contain her emotions and sobbed sorrowfully as a result. Keith held onto her in a cuddle, giving her a shoulder to cry on, so to speak.

_Later, early in the afternoon…_

"I have decided on the next mission for you two," Hastings began. He, Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel were in the Research room. "Brighton Hall's diary has hinted that two other gems known as the Tears of Princes are found elsewhere. Alexa, I want you to head for Boyleland to search for the Red Gem. Keith, I want you to go to the Haruba Desert and find the Yellow Gem. Should either of you find your respective crystals, secure them immediately. These missions are more important than anything you've previously been assigned."  
Keith squinted over at Alexa. He noticed that she looked rather reluctant; she didn't like the idea of them separating, especially after the sincere truth she heard from him.  
"Alex? You okay?" he asked with concern.  
"I have to be," Alexa answered glumly. "As Professor Hastings said, this is more important than anything we've been assigned to previously." Keith wasn't entirely convinced at Alexa's words. He faced Ryder.  
"Ryder? Take care of her," he requested simply.  
_As I said before, no need to tell me twice,_ Ryder nodded once with a smile. Alexa looked at Keith in confusion. Her confusion subsided, however, as she smiled warmly not long after facing him.  
"Thank you."  
"Well, I'm off to Haruba Desert," Keith began. "Let's wish each other safety and success." Keith and Buizel run towards the door. Before exiting through the door, Keith looked back at Alexa. "But…your safety's more important," he said softly. Alexa was in shock at hearing Keith's words, but said nothing to him; Keith closed the door behind him instantly after finishing his sentence anyhow.

_To be continued…_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen - Return To Boyleland! Search For The Red Gem!**

_In the Boyleland…_

A Staraptor slowly descended towards the ground, in front of the Ranger Depot. Alexa and Ryder hopped off of its back and it flew away. Alexa wore her medical hip-bag around her waist.  
"This time, things are going to pan out differently," she stated. "I won't have to worry about phoning my kid brother again, I've restocked on medical supplies for you, Ryder."  
_Much obliged,_ Ryder thanked, looking towards her with a friendly smile on his face. _By the way, I've taken the liberty of adding some human medication while I was removing what wasn't needed for me, so if you get hurt, we won't have to worry about calling for help._  
"Much obliged, Ryder," Alexa said happily, smiling down at him.  
"Mime-mime-mime!" a small squeaky voice exclaimed. Alexa and Ryder stepped into the village and found a familiar Mime Jr running in a circle around a Bidoof.  
"Our Mime Jr can be such a handful," the village elder said to himself. "Seeing that makes my head spin." He noticed Alexa and Ryder entering the village, and appeared to be angry. "Another one of those criminal scoundrels has come along!" he exclaimed in a huff. He angrily entered his house.  
_Scoundrels?! That ungrateful son of a-_ Ryder's anger was almost beyond his control, but Alexa rested her hand on his shoulder.  
"Whoa, easy, Ryder, he's probably just forgotten us," she began abruptly. "I mean, come on; it's been a while since we last came here."  
_Senile old git!_ Ryder exclaimed furiously. At this point, Alexa was already prepared to enter the elder's house.  
"Settle down, Ryder," she began. "Let's just explain ourselves to get his permission to get to the other side of the cave." She opened the door and she entered the house. Ryder followed her, still in a grumpy mood.

_Inside the house…_

"You! Be gone at once!" the elder shouted angrily. "Come to kidnap our Mime Jr again, you wretched Dim Sun, you!"  
_Dim Sun?! Does Alex's uniform look like a full-body leotard to you, you senile old son of a- _Ryder growled at the elder with great fury. Alexa held onto his right paw.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, Ryder, easy," she whispered to him.  
"Grandpa, that's not right, is it?" the elder's granddaughter questioned. Alexa faced the elder.  
"Sorry. I'm the Pokémon Ranger who went looking for the Ranger who went missing while looking for your Mime Jr and the other Boyleland Pokémon," Alexa explained calmly.  
"Eh? Oh, yes! I'm sorry, my dear, anyone wearing a uniform looks like a Dim Sun to me these days," the elder apologised.  
_Dim Sun wear black full-body leotards! How could you mistake a proper uniform for a bloody leotard you lunatic!?_ Ryder was offended at the elder's words.  
"Ryder, chill out," Alexa whispered to him. "Anyway, sir, my partner and I would like to ask for your help again if that's possible."  
_After this, we won't bother trying to give you a heart attack again,_ Ryder quietly sighed sarcastically.  
"Ryder, behave!" Alexa whispered with caution.  
"What do you need help with this time, Ranger?" the granddaughter asked politely.  
"We need to get to the closed off entrance to the Volcano cave," Alexa began. "We need to get in there because we need to search for any signs of the red Tears of Princes gem."  
"I can't make heads or tails of what you're saying," the elder began in bewilderment. "But would you like to see the right side of the cave?"  
_That's what we want your help for, you stupid old fool!_ Ryder attempted to control his rage. Alexa noticed his self-control, so she didn't say anything; it was lucky Ryder's rudeness failed to meet the elder's ears.  
"I can unlock the padlock on the door to the right," the elder continued. "Think nothing of it, the Pokémon of Boyleland are indebted to you."  
"Thank you so much, sir," Alexa thanked gratifyingly.  
"You go on ahead to the cave's gates. I'll meet you there once I find the proper key," the elder suggested. With that, Alexa and Ryder left the house.

_Alex, I really hate that old man,_ Ryder jeered. _How is it possible that a man of his stupidity got to be the elder of this village?!_  
"Try not to think about it, Ryder," Alexa said plainly. "Despite you believing him to be senile, at least his intentions are in the right place."  
They approached a cave with a red gate closed and padlocked, blocking access to the cave inside. They stood outside the gate.  
"Ah, there you are, Ranger of Pokémon!" the elder called. He approached the gate; he held a large ring with a series of keys attached to it. "Sorry to make you wait, my dear, let me open the door for you."  
_Oh, Arceus, what have you wrought?!_ Ryder sighed.  
"Ryder…!" Alexa snapped quietly.  
_Just watch; I'll bet none of those keys is the one for that padlock,_ Ryder wagered. Alexa watched the elder as he approached the gate. The elder tried the first key, but it didn't fit into the padlock.  
"Hmm? This is rather tricky…" He tried the second key, but that didn't even go into the padlock. "If it's not that one, it must be this one," he assumed as he tried the third key. It was too small for the padlock and failed to twist as a result. "Maybe it's this ancient looking key that's the correct one," he guessed as he tried the final key. It failed to even go into the padlock. "That didn't work either…"  
_See? I told you none of the keys worked,_ Ryder sighed. The elder turned around to face Alexa and Ryder.  
"Forget about the red stone, dear, that solves everything," the elder said randomly.  
_We can't forget about it, you old codger!_ Ryder snarled under his breath out of frustration.  
"I'm afraid we can't ignore the Red Gem, sir," Alexa sighed.  
"Grandpa!" the elder's granddaughter cried, running over to him and Alexa. "The key was on a string around Mime Jr's neck!"  
"Oh, that's it!" the elder exclaimed.  
"I'm sorry, Ranger, this is the right key," the granddaughter apologised.  
"At least we got there in the end," Alexa laughed. The elder used the newly obtained key and the gates opened perfectly.  
"Ah, there we go. No trouble at all! You watch out for those flame spouts now," he warned as he made his leave.  
"I didn't know this, but magma's…hot, isn't it?" the granddaughter asked. She then made her leave.  
_Magma's hot? No duh! Honestly, is she as stupid as her grandfather?!_ Ryder exclaimed in astonishment.  
"It's probably a hereditary trait," Alexa teased. "Anyway, let's get ourselves in there."  
_Alex, that is the first sensible thing I've heard on this island!_ Ryder sighed sarcastically. _And it's not even from a resident either!_  
"Yeah, it's from the Pokémon Ranger who saved the island's Pokémon," Alexa laughed. She and Ryder entered the cave.

Alexa and Ryder entered the hot volcanic cave. There was a bigger river of magma nearby, and a wandering Torkoal. Alex's styler received a transmission, and she picked it up.  
"Voicemail, it's Wendy here," Wendy began. "Listen, while you're there, capture a Pokémon that can walk through the magma. Understood?"  
"Yeah, I don't think I can jump the gap," Alexa teased. "Thanks for the advice."  
"You're welcome. Be careful in there, Alexa," Wendy cautioned, ending the transmission. As soon as it ended, Alexa got another transmission through her styler.  
"Wow, I'm popular today," she stated sarcastically as she picked up the new transmission.  
"Voicemail, Alex, it's me, Keith," Keith stated.  
"Keith? What're you voice-mailing me for?" Alexa asked in astonishment.  
"Just a few things," Keith continued. "First, good luck with finding the Red Gem. I'll do my best to find the Yellow Gem."  
"Aw, thanks, Keith," Alexa said pleasantly. "Good luck with your mission."  
"Thanks, Alex. One more thing," Keith added. "What's your favourite colour?" he asked.  
"My favourite colour?" Alex questioned. "It's green. Why?"  
"No reason," Keith responded. "Thanks, Alex. Take care of yourself out there." Keith ended the transmission.  
_Methinks he's lying about the colour thing,_ Ryder assumed. _Anyway, how do we move on from here?_  
"Well," Alexa began, looking up at a floating Drifblim higher up. "We can always capture Drifblim."

_A while and a perilous trek later…_

A Drifblim floated out of a hole in the floor, with Ryder and Alexa holding onto it as they were lifted out of the hole. Both Alexa and Ryder appeared to have differing wounds on their bodies; Alexa had various bruises and cuts mainly on her arms and legs, as well as the odd graze on her face, while Ryder had burn-related injuries.  
"Okay, that's the last time we face an Aggron head on," Alexa stated with frustration.  
_I couldn't agree more,_ Ryder nodded with agreement. He and Alexa let go of the Drifblim and landed safely on their feet. Drifblim floated away, and Alexa picked up a transmission on her styler. She answered it.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, it's me, Rhythmi," Rhythmi began. "We're sensing a seriously strong Pokémon in your area. Please be careful!"  
"We'll do our best," Alexa complied. The transmission ended and Alexa faced Ryder. "Okay, let's move on."  
"What is going on here?" asked a young, uptight feminine voice. Alexa and Ryder found two red-haired women in Dim Sun admin clothing and another woman with pink hair and dressed in pink approaching them. "Oh, now what's this!? How did a lowly Ranger manage to get this far?!"

"Same way you did, I suppose," Alexa retaliated sarcastically. "It's called going through a door."  
"So that's why the door was open," the pink haired woman began. "Someone opened it for you."  
_Yeah, and the less said about that the better,_ Ryder sighed.  
"But I've locked it with a secretly copied key," the pink haired woman continued. "In other words, you're in the bag. It's nice to meet you, Ranger. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm one of the Sinis Trio."  
"Sinis Trio?" Alexa questioned.  
"The Big Boss's favourites," the pink haired woman explained bluntly. "My name is Lavana! A woman of fiery passion, like this very volcano"  
"So you named yourself after lava? Couldn't you go with a name that means lava as opposed to having lava in your name?" Alexa asked rudely.  
"And flanking her are Lavana's personal henchperson, the Dim Sun Crimson unit!" the two female admins declared.  
"Crimson unit? Oh, so does that make Ice's troupe the Cerulean unit?" Alexa teased. Ryder chuckled to himself.  
"You two stay out of the spotlight!" Lavana instructed to the two admin members. "By the way, Ranger, are you searching for the Red Gem too? Too bad if you are; there's only one Red Gem."  
"There was only one red prince, so, yeah, there would only be one gem to correspond to that said prince," Alexa sighed.  
"Give it up and get out of here!" Lavana demanded.  
"And what are you going to do if we don't?" Alexa asked mockingly.  
"Lavana, let us! We'll handle this!" the two flunkies volunteered, stepping closer to Alexa.  
"That's true, I'm not needed for a job this small. You two do it," Lavana sighed.  
_Are you calling us weak, you filthy little Barbie doll?!_ Ryder snarled angrily at Lavana. Alexa chuckled.  
"Nice one, Ryder," she whispered. The two flunkies each got a Miniremo out and typeed something into them. Two hypnotised Monferno arrived and attacked.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc out of her styler. Despite how much the two Monferno jumped around, the capture disc managed to circle around at least one of them. It wasn't long before both Monferno were befriended and released.

"Lavana, I'm sorry! I have no excuses!" the first flunky exclaimed apologetically.  
"We made her do a lot of that loopy thing they do, though. She should be tired at least," the second flunky added quietly.  
"Are you kidding? I needed to work this shoulder anyway!" Alexa exclaimed happily, rotating her right shoulder.  
"Out of the way, you failures!" Lavana fumed. She stepped forward while her flunkies stepped back. "This is the thanks you get for firing me up emotionally!" She set up her Miniremo and a hypnotised Infernape landed in front of her.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc out of her styler again. Infernape proved to be more of a challenge for Alexa; Infernape occasionally attacked by creating small explosions around it, making it difficult for Alexa to see where her capture disc was aiming. After a short while, Infernape created a group of flame spouts around it and jumped around afterwards. Despite the difficulty Infernape was presenting, it was soon befriended and released. Lavana panted.

"The-there…all that looping must've left you exhausted," she panted. Alexa flexed her right arm around.  
"Nah, I'm actually pretty good now," Alexa stated. "I don't know why you're exhausted, all you did was watch."  
"And Ranger…beating me doesn't solve your problem," Lavana continued. "If you think you can take the Red Gem now, you're sadly mistaken. There's a brutally tough Pokémon guarding it!"  
"That doesn't surprise me, since I've just had a voicemail about it," Alexa sighed.  
"I'll leave now so I can put my makeup back on," Lavana huffed. "It's not because I lost! My makeup is runny! And don't forget it!" Lavana and her associates then left the area.  
_Her makeup is runny? Too much information, lady! Geez!_ Ryder moaned. _Alex, why do female humans want to look good?_  
"Because they think it makes them feel good," Alexa answered. "Not that I know anything about makeup, the only type I touch is nail polish," she stated, looking at her fingernails; her nails were short, but were perfectly painted in a dark terra cotta brown colour. "Anyway, let's advance."

_After a short trek…_

Alexa and Ryder walked along a rather narrow area of land, surrounded by magma, and find a pedestal of sorts with a red fire-shaped gem shining atop of the pedestal. They tried to approach the gem…

_FSSSSSSSSH!_

Steam was released from the four small holes in the floor near the pedestal. This startled Alexa and Ryder.

**FOOOOOOO!**

Two spouts of magma erupted from the river beneath the two, close to the narrower path. This startled Ryder especially.

**GYAAAASHEEEEEEEEEEEH!**

A Heatran leapt out of the magma from Alex's right hand side and landed in front of both her and the Red Gem. The Heatran roared continuously.  
"Hmm. It's been a while since we saw a Heatran last," Alexa muttered, unfazed at the behemoth's appearance.  
_And we both know what happened last time we saw one,_ Ryder appeared to be relatively worried about witnessing such a behemoth. _Please, Alex. Be very careful._  
"You're right. We can't screw this up now," Alexa agreed. "Capture on!" she fired her capture disc at Heatran.

Heatran presentd a challenge for Alexa; it created a small series of explosions around it – one of which managed to damage Alexa's capture disc a little bit, unleashed a large burst of fire around it – which Alexa avoided altogether, and it created a small yet dangerous puddle of lava. With the obstacles Heatran presentd, Alexa was forced to restrain herself a lot more than she had to against Lucario. Ryder fired an Aura Sphere at the capture disc, increasing its power by double. Despite this power boost, Heatran's obstacles continued to cause Alexa and her capture disc troubles as Alexa tried to maintain her focus on the large four-legged volcanic behemoth guarding the very gem Hastings had sent her and Ryder to secure. However, despite the odds stacked against her, Alexa managed to capture and befriend Heatran, with her capture disc still intact. Heatran roared, causing the bright light around the Red Gem to fade. Heatran then returned to the magma it came from. A small splash of magma landed on Ryder's tail. Ryder howled in pain as he ran around in a panic.

_Owowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!_ The pain created from the burning magma spot on his tail was too unbearable for him. Alexa quickly got a bag of dirt from her medical hip-bag and threw it onto Ryder's tail. The burning died away and the magma cooled because of the soil's impact with the small dot of magma. Alexa and Ryder sighed with relief. Ryder then went to the Red Gem and took it from the pedestal. He and Alexa then left the volcano cave.

_At the Union…_

"Another job well done, dear," Erma complimented. She, Hastings, Alexa, Ryder and a scientist similar to Nage were in the Operations Room. The scientist was treating the magma burn on Ryder's tail.  
"So the Red Gem was inside the Boyle Volcano after all," Hastings pondered. Alexa took the red fire-shaped gem and held it in front of her.  
"Heatran was more of a challenge than we thought," Alexa began. "But we got through eventually."  
"Bravo, Alexa! Well done!" Hastings complimented happily. "Chairperson Erma, would you like to do the usual honours, please?"  
"Certainly. Alexa, dear, the magma must have been unbearably hot," Erma assumed, having taken notice of Alexa and Ryder's selective injuries. "Yet you persevered and succeeded in the face of such adversity. You are now certified to Ranger Rank 7."  
"Thank you, ma'am," Alexa thanked. At least my visit to the Stark Mountain volcano paid off, she thought to herself.  
"All done," the scientist declared. He stood up straight, revealing Ryder's bandaged-up tail. "I would recommend checking the wound before retiring for the night."  
"I'll do that. Thank you, Vatona," Alexa gratifyingly thanked.

_Later that night…_

_Ow!_ Ryder flinched with pain. Alexa was applying a lotion onto the burn on Ryder's tail. _Heatran needs to watch out where he splashes!_  
"I don't think he did it on purpose," Alexa laughed. She was wearing completely different pyjamas; her current pyjamas consisted of a blue short-sleeved T-shirt with matching pyjama leggings, both of which appeared to be relatively tight, as they somewhat revealed Alexa's figure; her bust size was reasonable, but she looked relatively slender at the same time. Ryder turned his head to look at her.  
_Alex, do you honestly want to hide your body from Keith?_ He asked. _That's why you've brought your baggy pyjamas, isn't it?_  
"Nothing gets passed you, huh?" Alexa sighed, starting to put a fresh bandage over the burn, which had now been smothered with lotion. "But, yeah, I want to keep it from him."  
_What about everyone else at the Union?_ Ryder questioned. _Are you planning to hide yourself from them too?_  
"Well, at least from the male half of the Union," Alexs said with a small laugh. "But I don't like it when people make opinions about others based on their figure, which is why I like to hide mine."  
_Alex, you'll have to reveal your figure to someone sometime,_ Ryder cautioned. _And if you're not confident about it, why not show it to just Keith first?_  
"Well, apart from the fact that he's not here," Alexa began teasingly. "I don't want him to feel like I'm pressuring him into doing anything."  
_He's not the type to have that mind,_ Ryder smiled. _I'm confident that you can confess to him about why you wear baggy pyjamas when he's here._  
"Well, if you think he'll be somewhat okay with it," Alexa began, despite sounding uneasy. "I'll take your word for it."

_The next morning…_

Ryder – still with a bandage on his tail – and Alexa – with a cup of coffee in her hand – arrived at the Operations Room.  
"Good morning, dear," Erma greeted. "I trust you slept well?"  
"It's not the same without my roommate, but I slept decently. Thank you for asking," Alexa elaborated politely.  
"We've received word from Keith late last night," Erma continued. "He confirmed there was a folklore about the Tears of Princes in the Haruba Desert. He also confirms those small stones came from a large yellow crystal, the crystal being the Yellow Gem."  
"So we're on the right track then," Alexa guessed. She took a drink from her coffee cup.  
"However, the Yellow Gem is said to be concealed deep inside Hippowdon Temple," Erma continued. "He reports that it will take him time to reach the crystal."

"Poor Keith…I hope he's okay," Alexa said worriedly.  
"One more thing," Erma added. "He sent a message, along with his report, for you, dear."  
"A message? For me?" Alexa questioned with shock.  
"Yes. He's asked me to tell you to contact him as soon as possible," Erma elaborated. "He says he has something to ask you, dear."  
"Um…okay, I'll let him know I got the message," Alexa stated.  
"In the meantime, I shall be waiting on the rooftop," Erma said. "Come up when you're ready, dear." Erma leaves for the rooftop.

Alexa got her styler and attempted to make contact with Keith; she was still confused about the message he left for her. She made contact.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Keith, it's me, Alexa," she stated.  
"Hi, Alex!" Keith greeted happily. "Did you get the message I left with Chairperson Erma?"  
"Yeah, you said you have something to ask me?" Alexa questioned.  
"Yeah, I do. What was your very first Pokémon?" Keith asked.  
"My first? My Charizard, but, to be pedantic, it's Charmander," Alex answered. "Why?"  
"No reason," Keith answered. "Thanks, Alex. Oh, yeah, before I hang up, how was the Boyleland?"  
"A few aches and pains here and there for both myself and Ryder," Alexa began. "But we're fine otherwise. The Red Gem's been secured, at least."  
"Nice one, Alex! Anyway, I should press on with my mission. I'll see you soon, okay?"  
"Of course it's okay! I'm missing my roommate!" Alexa laughed. "Take care, and good luck."  
"Thanks, Alex. Stay out of trouble and I'll see you soon." Keith ended the transmission. Alexa and Ryder then ran up to the rooftop.

_On the rooftop…_

"Alright, Alexa, would you put the Red Gem onto the dais, please?" Hastings asked calmly. Alexa walked over to the empty dais to the left of the Blue Gem and put the red fire-shaped gem on top of it. Everyone watched as the Red Gem shines brightly as a certain pulse is emitted from it, similar to the pulse the Blue Gem had emitted previously. The pulse was brief once again, but was unleashed into the atmosphere like before. The Red Gem continued to shine brightly alongside its blue neighbour.  
"And that leaves only the Yellow Gem," Hastings commented, looking towards the empty dais. "All we need to do now is wait impatiently for Keith's return."  
_Oh, yeah, because impatience is in your nature, innit?_ Ryder asked sarcastically. Alexa said nothing about what she heard; she felt somewhat insulted about Hastings's words.  
"Sorry to interrupt," Rhythmi apologised, entering the scene. "I've just received a message from Keith. The guardian Pokémon protecting the Yellow Gem is giving him trouble. But he says there's no need to worry."  
"I hope he's right," Alexa said worriedly. Rhythmi faced her.  
"Oh, by the way, he left another message for you," she added optimistically. "He's asked me to tell you he's happy for your success in the Boyleland."  
"Oh. Thanks, Rhythmi," Alex thanked nervously. She was blushing and had an embarrassed look on her face, but she was actually flattered.  
"That's his message," Rhythmi stated, returning to the Operations Room downstairs.  
"Alexa…this is strictly for my peace of mind," Hastings began. "Will you go to confirm that Keith is doing as well as he claims?"  
"Y-yes…of course…" Alexa muttered nervously. "I'm worried about him…"  
"I'm sure he's fine, Alexa, but humour me," Hastings continued. "This is only making certain of a sure thing."

_To be continued…_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen - The Oil Field Hideout! Kincaid's Return!**

_In Altru Park…_

Alexa and Ryder approached a crowd of people standing before a stage in the centre of the park. A quartet – the Go-Rock Quads – was on the stage, happily facing the crowd.  
"Hey, people, thanks for the turnout! And this is only a rehearsal!" Billy exclaimed happily, with his white electric guitar in hand. "I have good news! Clyde has returned to the Go-Rock Quads!"  
_The Who-Rock Quads?_ Ryder asked.  
"They're from the Fiore region," Alexa whispered to Ryder. "I've read about them; they apparently used to be antagonists."  
_Ah, okay._  
"Clyde has returned with new lyrics for everyone in Almia!" Garret declared, with his red guitar in hand.  
"A cure for your worries, music fans!" Clyde began, bongos on hand. "I had to cool my head after getting sick from the lyrics provided by Altru Inc. But, hey, I'm back and better than ever!"  
"What was wrong with Altru's lyrics?" Alexa pondered to herself, clearly showing suspicion.  
_Maybe Altru Inc doesn't have very good songwriters,_ Ryder answered sarcastically. Alexa came close to bursting out laughing.  
"You have to keep it a secret, though!" Tiffany began, violin in hand. "Especially from Altru's VIPs! That's a promise to keep!"  
"Speaking of Altru's VIPs, here they come!" Alexa stated loudly. Blake Hall, his green haired associate and two other Altru Inc employees made their way to the stage, as Alexa had stated.

The crowd made way for the Altru VIPs to make their way to the stage. The green haired associate approached the stage.  
"I'm sorry to disturb you when you are clearly enjoying yourselves," he began. "But Mr Blake Hall, Altru Inc's magnificent president, will now take the stage." Ryder appeared to be growling at the green haired man. The man noticed this.  
"Ryder, take it easy," Alexa whispered to him. Ryder appeared to be standing in front of Alexa protectively. The man faced the stage again.  
"President Hall wishes to deliver a guaranteed historic speech," he continued. "Now, clear the way, please, everyone. This means you as well, Go-Rock Quads; you're in the way."  
"What's this about? Nobody said anything about this," Clyde stated. Alexa started to become suspicious again.  
"I do apologise. We would like a little time," the green haired man said politely.  
"Well, alright then…" Clyde reluctantly agreed as he, Billy, Tiffany and Garret cleared the way to the stage. The two other employees made their way to the stage.  
"Have you memorised the lyrics our president wrote specifically for you?" the male asked Garret.  
_The president's lyrics made Clyde sick to the head? He must be a terrifically poor songwriter,_ Ryder snarled.  
"Something's going on here," Alexa whispered suspiciously.  
"The Dream Energy, was it? Uh…yeah, we've got it memorised, absolutely!" Garret confirmed, somewhat nervously.  
"You don't know how lucky you are," the female employee began, as she and the male employee stepped onto the stage. "You get to sing our new image song."  
"Uh…thanks for that," Tiffany thanked unenthusiastically.  
"Okay, if the band isn't enthusiastic about the song they're to sing, something fishy must be going on," Alexa whispered to Ryder.  
_My sentiments exactly. I just don't like Blake or his lackey,_ Ryder growled angrily.  
Blake Hall made his way towards the stage. Noticing Alexa along the way, he squinted over at her and smiled at her as he passed by. Ryder got angry, remembering Hall's last gesture, but tried to maintain his cool. Blake made his way onto the stage.  
"Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen!" the associate began. "I present to you none other than President Blake Hall of Altru Inc! He has graciously taken the time so that he may speak to you in person!" he declared.  
_Yeah, I'm sure he has…and to make a move on my girl too, no doubt!_ Ryder growled.  
"Wheeler, stand aside," Blake sighed.  
_Wheeler? What kind of name is that?_ Ryder asked himself in confusion.  
"No idea," Alex whispered to Ryder.  
_That sucks,_ Ryder sighed. Wheeler stepped aside timidly.  
"Good day, ladies and gentlemen," Blake began. "I'm Blake Hall, President of Altru Inc. Our history is the history of Almia. Altru has grown alongside you. Our partnership with you, fellow citizens, will soon reach seventy years. It's true, our seventieth anniversary since founding is soon upon us! On that day, to commemorate Altru's birthday, I will reveal a secret to you."  
_Boring! Can't we go find Keith yet?!_ Ryder complained quietly.  
"I wish we could, but this could be important," Alexa whispered reluctantly.  
"It is clean, efficient and limitless in supply," Blake continued. "Truly it is the energy of dreams! I assure you it will be exciting!"  
"Super! Magnificent! Ah, yes, yes, yes, super magnificent!" Wheeler cheered.  
"I, Blake Hall, hereby promise you a bright future for the Almia region!" Blake vowed. "On Altru's birthday, we have planned a massive commemorative event! You can expect a fun-filled day right here in Altru Park! Please do come see the Go-Rock Quads perform our new corporate image song! Fellow citizens! Our invitation goes out to you! Join us in our day of celebration with your families, friends and acquaintances!"  
"Bravo! Oh, I say bravo! Undoubtedly a bravo-worthy performance!" Wheeler exclaimed delightfully.  
_Bravo worthy performance? Try giving that guy a styler and a mission, see how HE does then!_ Ryder fumed.  
"Ryder, what does comparing Blake's delivery with a Ranger's work have to do with anything?" Alexa asked quietly.

Blake Hall left the stage and started to walk off. However, he stopped in front of Alexa and faced her.  
"Ah, Alexa, you're looking as beautiful as ever," he complimented. "I see you've witnessed my speech today."  
"Your delivery was clearly well rehearsed," Alexa commented. "I must admit, I am rather curious as to what Altru Inc has to offer for Almia's citizens."  
"Ah, I'm certain you will be pleased with what I plan to unveil on Altru's birthday," Blake began, taking Alexa's right hand like he did before. "And if you stick around afterwards, perhaps we can get better acquainted."  
_She's 17 years old, for Arceus's sake!_ Ryder jeered quietly, but he snarled rather loudly. Blake looked down at the angry Lucario.  
"Is something the matter with your partner Pokémon?" he asked curiously.  
"He just wants to ensure my safety, that's all," Alexa explained. "He's like a big brother to me, very protective. Even though he's only three."  
"And who can possibly blame him? I wouldn't want a beautiful girl like you to get herself into any kind of dangerous situation." He gently kissed the top of Alexa's right hand before releasing it. "I shall bid you adieu until we next meet." Blake then left the park in total, followed by Wheeler and the other two employees. Alexa was left stunned and blushing, holding her right hand with her left.  
_Why does he do that?! If my tail wasn't so bad, I'd show him not to mess with you, Alex!_ Ryder almost lost his temper in total.  
"Hey, Ranger!" Clyde called out to Alexa. She and Ryder faced him in confusion and approached him. "You okay?"  
"Uh…y-yeah, I'm fine…thanks for asking, Clyde," Alexa replied nervously. "This is the second time he's made that kind of contact with me, that's all."  
"Doesn't look like your partner likes that fact," Billy observed, noticing Ryder's rage.  
_Understatement, pal. Understatement,_ Ryder growled.  
"As I said to Blake, he's very protective," Alexa explained, petting her enraged partner. "He watches over me like I'm his little sister."  
"How sweet!" Tiffany complimented.  
"Thanks, Tiffany. Anyhow, I need to be on my way to help a colleague of mine," Alexa stated.  
"Take care. By the way, what's your name?" Garret asked.  
"Alexa," Alexa answered. "But that's my formal name. Feel free to call me Alex."  
"Take care of yourself, Alex," Billy smiled.

_A little later…_

Alexa and Ryder – riding on a Staraptor – were flying above the ocean. Ryder appeared to be frustrated.  
_We would've been at Haruba Desert by now if Hall hadn't wasted everyone's time with his speech,_ he scolded.  
"But don't you understand? There is definitely something going on with Altru Inc," Alexa began. "I mean, come on; Team Dim Sun are at large hypnotising innocent Pokémon and all Altru Inc care about is celebrating it's birthday! Blake acted as if Team Dim Sun is a work of fiction! I have a feeling that this new dream energy isn't what its title suggests."  
_Hey, Alex, isn't that Sven over there?_ Ryder asked, pointing to an offshore oilrig. Alexa could see Sven's trademark red hat in the distance.  
"Yeah, that's Sven, alright," Alexa confirmed. "And Luxray too! They look troubled, let's see if they need help."

**STARRRRRR!**

"Huh?" Staraptor's cry attracted Sven's attention as he witnessed the large raptor Pokémon landing in front of him. It flew away, revealing Alexa and Ryder. "Alexa? Thank God you're here!"  
"What's the matter, Sven?" Alexa asked.  
"I think I'm on the trail of Team Dim Sun's hideout," Sven explained. "I was about to voicemail the Union to send someone over to back me up, but doesn't look like I need to now."  
_Alex, what about Keith?_ Ryder looked up at Alex with concern. Alexa looked conflicted, but she faced Sven confidently.  
"I wouldn't mind investigating Team Dim Sun a little further," she stated. "Hopefully, something we find here might add up to my current suspicions about them."  
"Alright, I'll voicemail the Union," Sven said as he got ready to communicate with his styler. "Voicemail, it's Sven here. I'm on an offshore oilrig, and I've got Alexs with me."  
"Alexa? She's supposed to be going to the Haruba Desert," Hastings said in bewilderment.  
"I can respect that, Professor, but please let me borrow her for a while," Sven continued. "This could well be Dim Sun's headquarters, it's an opportunity too good to miss. And don't worry, I'll personally bring her to the Haruba Desert once we're done here."  
"Alright, Sven, but please look after her," Erma requested. "Her Haruba Desert mission is just as important as yours."  
"Don't worry, Chairperson Erma, I won't break her," Sven teased. "She's made of tougher stuff than that. Thanks for letting me borrow her, I'll fill you in once we're finished." Sven ended the communication and faced Alexa. "That's how it is, Alexa, we're partnered up for this. Follow me." Sven and Luxray started to climb up a tall ladder. Alexa and Ryder followed on.

_Atop of the ladder…_

Alexa, Sven, Luxray and Ryder managed to get onto the next level. They saw a helicopter hovering over helipad, as well as a few familiar faces. Alexa was about to panic upon seeing Kincaid, but Sven quickly clasped his hand over her mouth and shushed her. He then moved behind the nearest wall and held Alexa in front of him as he looked towards the conversation. The conversation they heard was inaudible due to the helicopter's hovering. Ice, Lavana and a third man – dressed in yellow – entered the helicopter and it left the helipad. Kincaid told the other minions something before they left the area. Sven unclasped his hand from Alex's mouth and they moved into the open space.  
"Thanks, Sven," Alexa sighed. "I would've given us away, I'll bet."  
"No worries. Too bad we couldn't hear what they were saying, though. Let's go inside," Sven suggested. He, Alexa, Ryder and Luxray infiltrated the oilrig.

_Inside…_

Sven and Luxray immediately ran down the corridor. Alexa and Ryder were left astonished at Sven's eagerness.  
"Sven, wait a minute!" Alexa called. "I guess we'd better go follow him," she sighed. She and Ryder gave chase.

They approached a door at the end of the corridor; it was closed, but Alex and Ryder were cautious as to what lay behind it.  
"Wh-what are you doing?! What do you want!?" cried a familiar sounding voice.  
"Isaac?!" Isaac's presence has greatly astonished Alexa and Ryder. They broke into the room, only to find Sven hassling Isaac.  
"Alex, help! This guy's bothering me!" Isaac cried.  
"Sven, leave him alone, he's a friend of mine from Ranger School!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"You're kidding! How did a Ranger School graduate end up working for Team Dim Sun?" Sven asked in shock.  
"What're you talking about, Isaac works for Altru Inc!" Alexa exclaimed in Isaac's defence. "Wait a sec…" Alexa began pondering to herself. She failed to notice a Dim Sun minion approaching her from behind. "Why would an Altru Inc employee be working in this dump?"  
"Alexa, look out-" Sven – having noticed – tried to warn her about the minion behind her.  
"G'aah!" The minion held out his left arm around Alexa's neck, which took her by surprise. The minion held Alexa close to him, as if to hold her captive.  
"Don't worry, Professor Isaac, I'll save you from these Rangers!" the minion declared.  
"Let her go, she's a friend of mine!" Isaac exclaimed.  
"This Ranger is your friend? I bet he's forcing you to say that!" the minion accused towards Sven. The minion's grip on Alexa seemed to be tightening, as Alexa struggled to breathe properly.  
"Hey, let the girl go, nice and easy, you're strangling her," Sven negotiated calmly. "Let's not be too hasty here."  
"Don't tell me what to do, Ranger!" the minion fumed, setting up a Miniremo unit. He was about to type in a command.  
_Oh, no you don't!_ Ryder snarled angrily, forming a dark orb of energy in his paws. He extended his arms and released the purple beam from his paws; the beam consisted of purple rings all cluttered together. The dark beam hit the Miniremo and destroyed it completely.  
"I give up, you Rangers are too much!" the minion panicked, pushing Alex away from him. As the minion fled, Sven, Isaac and Ryder ran over to Alexa.

"Alexa! You okay, girl?" Sven asked with concern. Alexa occasionally coughed and breathed heavily; the minion held his arm around her neck too hard.  
"I think so…!" she panted. Isaac and Sven helped her onto her feet. Once on her feet, she took a few steady breaths.  
"Alex, what did Ryder just do?" Isaac asked.  
"That was his Dark Pulse attack," Alexa explained. "He knows three other moves; Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse and Psychic."  
"Anyway, Alexa, I think it's a good idea to take mushroom-head back to the union with us," Sven suggested.  
"You'll take me to meet Professor Hastings? Yes, I'll go, I'll go!" Isaac exclaimed eagerly. "But I want to say goodbye to Mr Kincaid first. He's on the bottom floor."  
_Oh, boy! A chance for me to kick his ass in!_ Ryder rejoiced quietly as he appeared to be smirking with sheer delight, but with a lust for vengeance.  
"If that's what you want, Isaac, we'll go with you," Alexa offered.

_A little while later…_

Sven, Alexa, Isaac, Ryder and Luxray approached another door at the end of the corridor. Sven had apparently captured a Skuntank, as it followed them.  
"The elevator's in there?" Alexa questioned.  
"Yeah, that's it," Isaac confirmed.  
"Alexa, be a sweetie pie and check it out," Sven requested. Alex and Isaac faced him in shock.  
"Why Alex?" Isaac asked.  
"Because if there's a trap, I can help her out," Sven explained. "Besides, it's good manners to let the lady in first."  
"You're quite the one, aren't you?" Alexa asked sarcastically, entering the room. The boys waited somewhat anxiously for a minute.

"Aaaagh!" Alexa got thrown out of the room by two of the several minions inside. The door closed and it locked. Isaac helped Alexa up.  
"What happened in there?" he asked.  
"Good news is the elevator's in there," Alexa began. "Bad news is they won't budge."  
"I think it's time to flush them out," Sven suggested playfully. "Skuntank, do your stuff." The Skuntank walked into the room through the vent next to the door. A few minutes later…

**GAAAAAAAAAAH!**

The door burst open and the Dim Sun minions raced out all at once. Sven, Isaac, Alexa, Ryder and Luxray ran into the room while the Skuntank exited the room.

_Later on…_

Alexa, Ryder, Sven, Luxray and Isaac were running along an underwater corridor when Alexa's styler picked up a transmission.  
"Vicemail, vicemail, it's me-"  
"Keith? I'd love to chat, but we're kind of busy here," Alexa said hastily. "We're in Team Dim Sun's alleged headquarters and we're kind of underwater right now."  
"You're my friend, yes? Then you-"  
"Well duh I'm your friend, we established that at graduation!" Alexa stressed. "Look, I'll be there as soon as I can, don't get your shorts in a bunch!" Alexa ended the transmission.  
"Vicemail? Is Keith messing with us?" Sven queried.  
"That doesn't matter, I can find out from him later," Alexa began. "In the meantime, I want to find Kincaid."

_In the next room…_

"Hello, Kincaid! Missed me?" Alexa asked sarcastically as she, Sven, Ryder, Isaac and Luxray entered the room.  
"Mr Kincaid, sir? You remember Alex, don't you, sir?" Isaac asked innocently. "She graduated from the Ranger School at the same time I did."  
"Remember her? How could I forget her!?" Kincaid fumed. "What are you doing here, Alexa?!"  
"Well, aside from wanting to set the record straight," Alexa began. "We thought you'd appreciate seeing Isaac again before he leaves for the Ranger Union." Kincaid noticed something in Sven's hand.  
"Oh, come on! Professor Isaac AND the blueprints too?!" he exclaimed angrily. "Minions, retrieve the blueprints!"  
"Uh oh…" the minions appeared to be heading for Isaac. He attempted to run off, but the minions were about to corner him. Sven stepped in to defend Isaac.  
"Whoops! Not so fast, boys," Sven taunted. "I've got these chumps, Alexa, you go for Kincaid."  
"With pleasure," Alexa complied, facing the enraged Kincaid. Kincaid had a Miniremo out in front of him and the hypnotised Gliscor from the cargo ship.  
"Alexa, you always ruin my plans," Kincaid fumed. "Always ruining my plans and running in the hallways! I'm so sick of looking at you!"  
"Aw, what a shame! And here I thought we could discuss this like adults," Alexa said tauntingly.  
"You're 17 years old, for God's sake! 17! Yet you ruin my plans!" Kincaid shouted furiously.  
"Look at the glass half full," Alexa suggested. "Better me being 17 than 10," she added mockingly.  
"Alright, that does it! Gliscor, get rid of her right now!" Kincaid demanded. The hypnotised Gliscor charged towards Alexa, with its pincers open. Sven, although currently in the process of capturing a group of Nuzleaf, looked over towards Alexa.  
"Alexa, watch out!" he warned.

**GLIIIIIIII**-scor?

The Gliscor was surrounded in a blue light and was held in mid-air. Ryder's right paw and eyes glowed in the same hue as he stood in front of Alexa protectively.  
"I…is that what I think it is?" Kincaid asked, somewhat timidly.  
"Psychic," Alexa confirmed bluntly.  
_This is what you get for trying to harm my sis!_ Ryder snarled at the Gliscor as it was held in mid-air.  
"GLIIIIIII!" Gliscor cried out in agony as Ryder continued to hold the Pokémon in the air with Psychic. The Gliscor is eventually freed, but unconscious. "Okay, Ryder, show Mr Kincaid the attack you're yet to debut!" Alexa exclaimed. Ryder lowered his head and bends over to his right as an orb of green fire is formed in his gaping mouth.  
_One Dragon Pulse coming up!_ Ryder raised his head back and then unleashed the large pulse of green fire from his mouth. The pulse hit the Miniremo unit Kincaid controlled and destroyed it. The Gliscor was freed and it left the area. Kincaid snarled at Alexa and Ryder.  
"Alexa…! I'll get you for this! Mark my words, you'll pay for having crossed me!" he vowed, escaping in a submarine. The submarine left the base.  
"Mr…Kincaid?" Isaac appeared to be conflicted regarding the personality he had witnessed.  
"Come on, Alexa, let's get out of here," Sven suggested.

_Outside…_

Alexa received a transmission on her styler. She, Sven, Ryder, Luxray and Isaac were heading towards a boat moored nearby.  
"Voicemail, it's me, Hastings," Hastings began. "I've heard from Sven your investigation went well. We'll have Isaac brought here for his protection. In the meantime, I apologise for doing this over voicemail, but you're promoted to Ranger Rank 8, Alexa."  
"Thanks, Professor," Alex said gratefully.  
"Incidentally, Alexa, you should be heading for the Haruba Desert now," Hastings suggested.  
"Don't worry, Professor, I'll take her there myself," Sven volunteered. "It's the least I can do to repay her for her help today." The transmission ended. Alexa and Ryder faced one another with worry; they feared that they delayed their journey to the Haruba Desert for too long.

_To be continued…_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen - The Final Gem! Search Hippowdon Temple!**

_Entering the Haruba Village…_

"It was nice of Sven to drop us off here," Alexa commented. "I like it when a person is true to their word."  
_Sven doesn't look like the sort who isn't true to their word,_ Ryder stated. _But you and I both know who aren't true to their word, right?_  
"Yeah, well…less said about that bunch the better," Alexa sighed. "What the-!?"

**NIRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**

"What is that guy doing over there with that Gigaremo?!" Alexa asked in horror. "No wonder there's a bad sandstorm here!"  
_I'll get it; I can't miss with Aura Sphere,_ Ryder volunteered, forming the sphere of aura in his paws. He fired it at the yellow Gigaremo, destroying it upon impact. The sandstorm died down as the hypnotised Hippopotas returned to their original states and returned to the desert.  
"What did you do?! I was planning to make money with that cappuccino machine!" the man nearby fumed as Alexa and Ryder approached him.  
"No, I know what a cappuccino machine looks like," Alexa began. "And a cappuccino machine that was not. That, sir, was a Gigaremo!"  
"Gigaremo? I've heard about those in the paper," the man said calmly, holding up a newspaper regarding the Gigaremo units.  
"And you mistook it for a cappuccino machine?!" Alexa asked angrily. "The Hippopotas were suffering as a result of your naivety!"  
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" the man apologised. "I will never make that mistake again!"  
"It's alright, I'll let it slide for now," Alexa began. "We need to get to the Hippowdon Temple as soon as possible anyway."  
"Oh, you go through the desert," the nearby boy stated. "Just go up here and the Hippowdon Temple is just ahead."  
"Thanks, kid, much appreciated," Alexa thanked.

_A short while later…_

Alexa and Ryder approached the Hippowdon-shaped entrance. There was a hole in the path, making them unable to access the temple.  
"O-kay…who's idea was it to put that hole there?" Alexa sighed. Ryder looked around and noticed something in the trench beneath them.  
_Alex, look!_ He pointed to a lone Hippowdon wandering around the sand. _Maybe Hippowdon can get us in the temple!_  
"That wouldn't surprise me," Alexa stated. "Let's go." She and Ryder ran towards the trench by running down the stone steps leading there. Alexa quickly captured the nearby Doduo and got on its back. "Ryder, can you attack from afar? All I need you to do is to make it stop in its tracks."  
_I can do that, no problem,_ Ryder complied. _What attack should I use? Aura Sphere or…_  
"Surprise me," Alexa smiled. "HYAH!" The Doduo raced across the sand and approached the Hippowdon. Ryder ran along the edge of the trench, on the sidelines.

FSHOOOOOOO!

A couple of the small tornados surrounding Hippowdon managed to hit Alexa and the Doduo, causing damage to the Doduo and Alexa. Hippowdon attempted to make an underground escape.  
_Not so fast!_ Ryder held out his right paw as it and his eyes glowed blue. The Hippowdon was surrounded in the same light as it was lifted out of the sand. _Now, Alex!_  
"Capture on!" Alexa shouted, firing her capture disc from her styler. Hippowdon's vulnerability made the capture quick and easy. Hippowdon was gently lowered back to the ground. Alexa dismounted from Doduo and left the trench, followed by Hippowdon. The Doduo went about its business as normal.

"Hi-POW!" Hippowdon released sand from the holes on its back and poured it into the hole, eventually filling it up. The Hippowdon left soon after, allowing Alexa and Ryder into the temple.

Inside, they found three wild Golem wandering around. They were more astonished by what they saw at the other end of the room; a familiar looking Buizel encouraging Alexa and Ryder to follow it before leaving the room.  
"Was that…?"  
_There's no mistake; that Buizel is Keith's partner Buizel!_  
"But I've never seen the two separate before! Something must be wrong!"  
_Let's see where he's trying to lead us!_  
"Good idea""

_Eventually…_

"What…the…crap…" Alexa and Ryder found themselves in a very complicated room; the pathway was very narrow, with the vast majority of the remaining space occupied by flowing sand, and the holes in the walls around the room fired out large balls of sand.  
_I can always destroy those sand balls if they get in my way,_ Ryder stated confidently.  
"That's not what worries me," Alexa began, pointing to a hole in the floor, near one of the pathway's sections. "If we're not careful, we may have to rinse and repeat."  
_Then let's try not to,_ Ryder suggested. He started making his way along the narrow path.  
"If you insist…" Alexa reluctantly started following Ryder. Paying more attention to her feet, she failed to notice the oncoming sand balls.  
"AAAAAAH!" the first one hit Alexa in the back.  
"D'AAAAAH!" the second one struck her left hand side, knocking her onto the flowing sand. She wound up back at the start of the room. She attempted to try again, avoiding the first two balls she collided with.  
"YAAAAAH!" a third ball crashed into Alexa's right shoulder, causing her to stagger around for a while.  
"D'OOMPH!" a fourth one – from the same direction as the third – hit Alexa right at the front of her body. The force of the blow knocked Alexa down, causing her to land on her back. She tried to get back onto her feet.  
"AAAAAAAAAH!" a fifth one – from the opposite direction as the fourth – struck her on the back, almost instantly after she got back onto her feet. She got knocked down onto her knees, and was barely keeping awake; the damage she received from the onslaught of sand balls had worsened her Boyleland injuries.  
"D'UH!" a sixth ball – from the same direction as the fifth – hit Alexa on the head, rendering her unconscious. The sand balls completely bypassed her at that point.

_A while later…_

"Urrrgh…Nnnnuh…" Alexa gradually regained consciousness and found Ryder looking down at her.  
_Alex? Are you okay?_ He asked. _I managed to get you outside,_ he added. Alexa sat up and found herself on top of the Hippowdon Temple's entrance.  
"Wh-what happened?" she asked dizzily.  
_The sand balls knocked you out cold,_ Ryder explained. _I used Psychic to get you out here while using Aura Sphere to protect you from further harm._  
"How long was I out?" Alexa asked worriedly.  
_No need to worry, we only got here 30 seconds ago,_ Ryder smiled. _You were out from the sand ball area, though. By the way, Keith voicemailed._  
"Yeah?"  
_He sounded strange,_ Ryder began. _He asked if we were getting closer and if we're coming with the gem._  
"What? We haven't even got the bleeding thing yet!" Alexa stressed. "Hell, we've only hit the half way point!"  
_I wish I could've said that,_ Ryder began. _But he hung up before I had the chance to talk._ Alexa managed to get to her feet.  
"Anyway, let's keep going," she sighed.

_Later…_

Alexa and Ryder entered a vacant room with a hole in the floor. They noticed Buizel jumping into the hole, which took them by surprise.  
"D-did he just jump down there?" Alexa asked in shock. Ryder ran over to the hole and looked down it.  
_It looks like a fair distance,_ he assumed. _I hope we can survive._  
"Just so long as we land on our feet, yeah, I think we can," Alexa guessed. She and Ryder jumped down the hole, following Buizel.

_Down the hole…_

Alexa and Ryder managed to land on their feet; they found themselves in a different area than before. There was a bridge leading to the room ahead of them, with a 'moat' of water around it. The ground beneath their feet was solid and apparently nourished because of the grass nearby. Alexa and Ryder proceeded across the bridge and into the next area.

_Inside…_

Alexa and Ryder found themselves in a small area, with a pedestal right in front of them. The pedestal had the crescent shaped Yellow Gem shining in a bright light. There was a small area of water surrounding the pathway to the gem. Alexa and Ryder approached the gem.

_FLASH!_

"Oh, come on!" Alexa complained, having been startled by the sudden flash.

_FLASH!_

"I thought this was over at the union!" she complained again.

_FLASH!_

_What keeps doing that?_ Ryder pondered to himself, looking around.

_FLASH!_

_BUUUYUUUUUUUUUUN!_

An aurora borealis shone above the Yellow Gem and its pedestal as Cresselia descended in front of the set. The Cresselia was eager to challenge Alexa.  
"Oh snap…"  
_Is this the guardian that Keith had trouble with?_  
"I don't know, nor care. I'll make this capture for him! Capture on!"

The capture disc was fired from her styler and started to circle around the lunar Pokémon. Cresselia's burst of mystical purple fire broke Alexa's capture line, but missed the capture disc, allowing Alexa to try again. She charged her capture disc twice, quadrupling its power. Narrowly avoiding the purple sphere of psychic energy circling around the entire area, Alexa continued to control her capture disc, circling it around Cresselia. However, as Alexa still had her injuries from the sand ball barrage and some minor recoil damage from the harsh landing, Alexa's control over her capture disc was sketchy at best. This was clearly one of the most pressurising captures Alexa had ever had to deal with.  
_Alex, let me help you,_ Ryder offered. _Let me use my Dark Pulse to weaken Cresselia's attacks; it may be the only chance we have, given your injuries._  
"If you say so, Ryder," Alexa permitted, somewhat dizzily; having to watch her capture styler circling around Cresselia was apparently making her giddy, which explained how pale her face appeared to be.  
_Bye-bye ball!_ Ryder fired a Dark Pulse directly at the forever-circling ball of psychic energy, thus destroying it.  
Cresselia continued to put up a valiant defence against the capture disc, but the lunar Pokémon eventually fell to its befriending effects and was completely captured, much to Alexa's relief. Cresselia caused the Yellow Gem to lose its bright shine and it made its leave. Ryder went over to the Yellow Gem and held it in his arms. He and Alexa then made their way out of the room.

"One thing still bothers me," Alexa began, slowly walking along the bridge with Ryder. "Where's Keith?"  
_Maybe we should stick around here to look for him,_ Ryder suggested. _I'm sure he's somewhere close by._  
The sound of an incoming helicopter disrupted Ryder's train of thought as he started snarling angrily. He and Alexa looked up behind them, noticing a familiar looking helicopter landing within the large space on the bridge.  
"Very good! You got the gem!" exclaimed an unfamiliar male voice from inside the helicopter. The door slid open as a large-bodied, tanned-skinned blonde haired man exited the helicopter. He was wearing a yellow chest plate with black trousers, and had no shirt on for no reason. "But you a fool for following vicemail!"  
"Number one, where's your shirt?" Alexa asked with disgust. "Number two, it's voicemail!" she corrected with frustration. "Now go away, we have a friend to find!"  
_And a Buizel too. We haven't seen him since he fell down the hole,_ Ryder stated on a random note.  
"I am Heath, not Keith! Hah! How you like that?" the man taunted.  
"Yes, we've established that you're not- hey, wait a minute! How do you know Keith?!" Alexa demanded angrily.  
_Alex, that explains the strange voicemails!_ Ryder said in shock. _The voicemail always started with 'It's me, Hea…Keith!'_  
"'Hea…Keith'?" Alexa asked in astonishment. She faced Heath angrily. "Okay, what did you do with Keith?!"  
"I try to get Yellow Gem, but guardian cause problems, yes?" Heath began. "A Ranger come by, I thought I be lucky; let him get guardian and I take gem after. But Ranger fail."  
"His styler broke…?" Alexa asked herself in shock.  
"But I hear of tough Ranger named Alexa," Heath continued. "I figure use her to get gem."  
"What?!" Alexa gasped in horror. Ryder snarled angrily at Heath.  
"But I don't take gem without giving something in return," Heath smirked. "I get gem, Alexa gets friend back."  
"No, Alex, don't! Don't give it to him!" Keith cried to Alexa as he was pulled into view by one of the Dim Sun admins. Keith had been trussed up at the upper body.  
"Keith!" Alex cried in devastation.  
_That smarmy dumb-talking wiseacre!_ Ryder fumed. _He's had Keith held hostage all this time!_

"Keith is not so smart," Heath teased. "If Alexa want Keith back, Lucario give me gem. Deal?"  
_Like hell I'll give it to you, you Anti-Barlow!_ Ryder snarled. _Do you believe this guy, Alex?!_ He faced Alexa, but was soon confused. _Alex?_  
Alexa failed to respond; her head was lowered. However, she was not saddened; she was enraged, as she was grinding her teeth together, resisting the urge to lose her temper. She was also clenching her fists tightly.  
"Alex?" Keith looked upon his angry friend with concern; from his point of view, he couldn't tell whether Alexa was saddened or angry.  
"It simple, yes? I take gem, you get friend back," Heath repeated. "You do care for friend, yes?"

"Yes…I care about Keith…more than any of the friends I thought I had," Alexa hissed. A tear could be seen falling down her cheek. "And you used him against me…and against his will, no less…!"  
_Alex? Are you okay?_ Ryder asked nervously, taking a few steps back. Ryder's stepping backwards confused both Keith and Heath. Alexa looked directly at Heath with an intimidating look on her face.  
"I won't let you get away with that!" she bellowed loudly.  
_Alex, please! Calm down!_ Ryder pleaded, looking somewhat scared. Keith was horrified; he'd never seen Alexa this angry before. Even Heath was somewhat intimidated.  
"I don't care about how you mess with me," Alexa continued wrathfully. "But when my friends are involved, that's when I take the personal approach!" Heath smirked and closed his eyes.  
"You bluff," he stated. "You know not of things like this." Heath's naïve statements were all Alexa needed to instantly race towards him with her right arm drawn back.

**SMACK!**

Ryder and Keith flinched as Alexa's right fist made critical contact with Heath's left eye. The force of the blow knocked Heath to the ground, and Alexa looked down at him with rage and an injured knuckle.  
"Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't fathom!" she snapped. "You may have heard of me through the other two of the Sinis Trio, but you don't know any more about me than that! Who are you to tell me what I have and haven't experienced! That's for me to decide!"  
_Alex, please! For the love of Arceus, get a hold of yourself!_ Ryder pleaded.  
"You make big mistake," Heath began, getting back onto his feet. He faced Alexa angrily. "Hit me, I hit harder!" he exclaimed as he tried to throw a punch at her.  
"Look out!" Keith warned. Alexa, however, was all too aware that Heath was attempting to fight back. She performed a back flip, dodging the attack. She returned to where she was originally standing – next to Ryder – and took off her styler.  
_Alex, what the hell are you doing?! You can't fight this guy!_ Ryder exclaimed fearfully.  
"I can try," Alexa said plainly, giving Ryder her styler. "Can you hold this for me please?" Ryder took her styler and she ran towards Heath again.  
"You fool to try hit me again," Heath laughed, thrusting out his right fist. However, instead of landing a punch…

**SMACK!**

Alexa swung her left foot across her and kicked Heath across his neck. Heath staggered, but regained his footing as he attempted to punch Alexa again. Alexa hopped backwards and grabbed Heath's arm; using his arm as support, Alexa threw her body around her and performed a double kick, which hit the back of Heath's neck. The force knocked Heath down, and Alexa spun in the air after the blow. She landed on her feet, with her legs bent; one in front of her, the other to the side. Heath struggled to get back onto his feet.  
"You're the one who was the fool today," Alexa began. "There's more to me than what meets the eye! Perhaps you can remember that if I don't give you amnesia!" she shouted furiously. Heath stood up and faced Alexa.  
"You good fighter," he complimented sarcastically. Alexa ran over to him, ready to land another attack.

**SMACK!**

"Aaaaagh!" Heath's punch landed right on Alexa's cheek. She was pushed towards Heath's right hand side, but this soon changed when Heath turned around to face her directly.  
"Alex!"  
"But you weak from sand balls, yes?" Heath guessed mockingly. Alexa struggled to stand up; her lip was bleeding, which was a result of Heath's punch. "That why your Lucario so keen to stop you, yes?"  
"What do you know about it?" Alexa hissed. She swung her left foot across her.

**GRAB!**

Heath grabbed Alexa's left ankle with both of his hands and held onto her leg. Alex looked up at him in both shock and frustration.  
"You idiot. You give me gem and I spare you from pain," Heath negotiated. "Win-win, yes?"  
"I'd rather go for the option that benefits both Keith and the Union," Alexa clearly stated. Heath pulled Alexa's leg, thus pulling Alexa closer to him. He grabbed a hold of her waist and held her upside down. He then slammed her down on the ground.  
"AAAAAAH!" To prevent her head from hitting the ground, Alexa lifted herself up enough for her left elbow to take the pain instead.  
"Alex!"

**CLANG!**

"Ow." Something hit Heath's shoulder pad; Ryder threw the Yellow Gem at him. Alexa – although weak from Heath's abuse – faced Ryder, both with concern and mild frustration.  
_Stop it!_ Ryder cried tearfully. _Please! Just leave them alone!_  
"Ryder…!" Alexa sighed.  
"Lucario is smart," Heath taunted. He looked down at the weakened girl. "You learn something from him now, yes?" Alexa attempted to stand back up again, and did so with difficulty. Her left elbow was bleeding, as a result of it scraping the ground beneath her during Heath's last attack. She faced Heath; she was experiencing too many negative emotions to depict a clear demeanour.  
_Alex, I'm so sorry! I just want you and Keith back safely!_ Ryder apologised sincerely. Heath got back into the helicopter.  
"Like I promise, I give friend back. Catch!" Heath pushed Keith out of the helicopter. Keith landed on his feet, and Ryder – still with Alexa's styler in his paw – ran over to him and Alexa.  
"Alex! Are you alright?!" Keith asked worriedly. Ryder helped Alexa stand up properly, being careful not to hurt her. Alexa failed to say anything; she was too conflicted.  
"Here's something else from me!" Heath shouted, with a Miniremo in front of him. A Magnezone hovered down in front of Alexa, Keith and Ryder as the helicopter took off.  
_Alex, snap out of it!_ Ryder shouted. Alexa looked ahead of her and found the hypnotised Magnezone. She snatched her styler from Ryder and stepped in front of him and Keith; she was still trying to protect her best friend.  
"Capture…on!" Alex struggled to fire her capture disc from her styler, given her weakness. She controlled her capture disc as best she could, but her weakness made it difficult for her to even see where her capture disc was spinning to.  
_Alex, don't go through with that! Let me battle it!_ Ryder strongly advised towards Alexa.  
"No! I don't want anybody else to get hurt because of me!" Alexa rejected. "I can handle this on my own, and I will if I have to!"  
It wasn't long before Alexa's capture was a success. The Magnezone was freed and it left the temple.

Ryder managed to untie Keith quickly and easily. Once freed, Keith didn't waste a second and immediately stopped Alexa from collapsing.  
"Alex! Please tell me you'll be okay!" he pleaded worriedly.  
"Don't worry about me," Alexa began. "I can manage."  
"I'm so sorry this happened to you!" Keith apologised. "If I succeeded in befriending Cresselia before my styler ran out of energy, then-"  
"Keith. Don't blame yourself. Please," Alexa interrupted. "It's my fault all this happened."  
_That's not true,_ Ryder said softly. _Please don't believe that._  
"Bui!" Buizel jumped out of the water and ran over to Keith happily. "Bui, bui!"  
"Buizel…I'm sorry I worried you so much," Keith truthfully apologised.  
"It's because of him," Alexa smiled. "That Ryder and I made it this far. Thanks, Buizel."  
"Bui, bui!" Buizel said happily. Keith helped Alexa stand back onto her feet, but her left ankle gave way and she toppled over again. Keith caught her in an instant, however.  
"Hey, I've got an idea," Keith began. He bent down and looked back at Alexa. "Get onto my back. I'll carry you."  
"Are you sure?" Alexa asked; she was surprised at Keith's gesture. Keith smiled and nodded.  
"I'm not letting you walk out of here alone, not after what Heath did to you," he explained. "I'll carry you back to the Union." Accepting his offer, Alexa placed her hands on Keith's shoulders. He stood up, ensuring Alexa was secure on his back. He – with Alexa now riding on his back – Buizel and Ryder left the temple.

_Later, at the Union…_

"And that's what happened," Keith concluded. He, Ryder, Buizel and Alexa – who is still on Keith's back – were facing Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma in the Operations Room.  
"I see. So Team Dim Sun has the Yellow Gem now," Hastings stated bluntly.  
"And it's because of me," Alexa sighed. "I tried to get Keith back safely without giving up the gem, but…"  
"You clearly messed it up," Hastings said rudely. Ryder snarled at him angrily.  
"Professor, please don't be so mean," Erma began. "She tried her hardest, despite how she got hurt beforehand."  
_I know; whose idea was it to put large cannons that shoot out large sand balls in a room where there is very little walking space?!_ Ryder fumed.  
"He's right, though; I screwed up," Alexa said sadly. "I knew I was already hurt from the sand balls, but all I could think about was getting Keith back…"  
"But no matter which way succeeded, Keith is safe," Erma continued. "That is what matters here, dear."  
"Still, Alexa, you should not have put yourself at risk," Hastings reprimand. "Having one Ranger in danger was bad enough, the last thing we need is a second one in trouble."  
"Take it easy on her!" Keith exclaimed defensively. "She fought very hard for me, and I'm grateful for her efforts!"  
"I'm sure. However, they have gone to waste, since the Yellow Gem has fallen into Dim Sun's hands," Hastings lectured.  
"Screw that stupid gem, we can get it back later!" Keith scolded furiously. Erma, Hastings, Alexa, Buizel, Ryder, Rhythmi, Linda and Marcus all faced him in shock. "If you say that me being safe is what matters, then Alexa being safe should matter too! Don't patronise her because of something she hadn't anticipated!"  
"You're right, I'm sorry," Hastings sighed. "No worries; we'll create a new plan of action accordingly."  
"In the meantime, Keith, I want you to look after Alexa," Erma requested. "Of course, I don't believe I need to tell you that."

_To be continued…_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen - Preparing Operation Brighton! The Truth Revealed!**

Alexa and Ryder walked up the escalator and met up with Keith, Buizel, Erma and Professor Hastings in the Operations Room. Alexa wore a support bandage over her left elbow, much like Ryder still had his bandage on his tail.  
"Did you get to sleep okay?" Keith asked. "I didn't get to sleep very easily."  
"And it's my fault," Alexa sighed. "I shouldn't have let you down. I'm sorry."  
"No, it's okay. You don't have to apologise," Keith said kindly.  
"Anyway, what's going on?" Alexa asked towards Erma and Hastings.  
"Well, we're attempting to access the data Sven recovered from the Oil Field hideout," Hastings began. "But it's password protected. We don't know anybody who knows the password."  
"Excuse me," Isaac said nervously. He approached Alexa, Keith, Erma and Hastings from the escalator.  
"What's up, Isaac?" Keith asked.  
"W-well, it took me a while, but I've realised I've been used," Isaac elaborated. "A-and everyone here's been so nice to me."  
"I know what it's like to feel used, Isaac," Alexa whispered to herself sadly. Keith squinted over at her with concern.  
"The password is Melody," Isaac stated. "It's my little sister's name. I wonder how she's doing."  
"Isaac, thank you," Hastings said gratifyingly. "Nage! Vatona! Tell the researchers the password is Melody! No exclamation mark, just Melody. No period either!"

_A few minutes later, in the Conference Room…_

"A-hem! Thanks to Isaac," Hastings began. He, Erma, Sven, Wendy, Isaac, Keith and Alexa were all gathered around in a circular formation. "We have accessed the blueprints of the Incredible Machine. May I draw your attention to the monitors beneath us?"  
Several images and texts popped up onto the underfoot monitors. The design for the 'Incredible Machine' looked all too familiar, horrifying everyone in the room.  
"Is that what I think it is!?" Wendy asked in horror.  
"It's what it looks like, alright," Sven stated with shock.  
"It's Altru Tower!" Keith exclaimed.  
"And it's complete tomorrow!" Erma panicked. Alexa, however, was the one most horrified.  
"That explains everything!" she cried. Everyone faced her in confusion, even Ryder and Buizel.  
"What do you mean, dear?" Erma asked.  
"It explains everything I've been suspecting all this time!" Alexa replied. "It explains why the tunnel starts from where the Shadow Crystal once stood and ends at an old Altru Inc shack, it explains why Altru Inc wasn't concerned about Team Dim Sun's activities, it explains why the Go-Rock Quads were reluctant to sing lyrics written by Blake Hall and it explains why Isaac was found in the Oil Field hideout! It all links together!"  
"And it makes perfect sense!" Keith agreed. Hastings paced around, looking as though he was in thought.  
"So, how do we proceed from here?" he pondered. "Isaac, we will have to devise a plan." He and Isaac left the Conference Room as the images underfoot disappeared.  
"Until Professor Hastings is done strategising," Erma began. "It is best if the rest of you go out on patrol. But, also, take this time to ready yourselves for anything."

_A little while later…_

Keith and Buizel were walking down the Chroma Road. They saw Alexa and Ryder sitting underneath a tree, both looking equally depressed. Keith and Buizel approached them.  
"Hey, what's wrong, Alex?" Keith asked. "And what's eating Ryder? I haven't seen him down before."  
_We're both bummed out about the same thing,_ Ryder sighed. Alexa then sighed.  
"We should've said something about our suspicions earlier."  
"What do you mean?" Keith asked, sitting next to Alexa. Buizel sat next to Ryder, and the two had their own chat.  
"Ryder and I have been exchanging our opinions about what we've been speculating since our mission in the Chroma Ruins," Alexa explained. "We had a strong feeling Altru Inc was involved somehow, but we should've said something earlier. That's why we're depressed."  
"I'm not worried about that," Keith smiled. "Chances are we would've found out about the whole thing ourselves anyway, regardless of whether your suspicions have been made clear or not." Alexa sighed and she looked up at the sky; it was clear blue with hardly any clouds in the sky and the sunlight was seeping through the leaves of the tree she and Keith were sitting under, providing a perfect amount of shade.  
"Keith, whenever I get depressed, I look up at the sky," Alexa began. "And I think about my family and friends supporting me."  
"Although the latter isn't really relevant if you're thinking of those who didn't bother to keep your friendship," Keith teased.  
"Yeah," Alexa laughed. "But right now, I'm thinking of my new friends, the ones who have supported me during my time here in Almia, as well as my family. My grandpa, who told me about Pokémon Rangers to begin with. My parents, who arranged my journey to Almia. My little brother, who was the inspiration I needed to not lose sight of my goals. Crawford, who helped me understand what it means to be a Pokémon Ranger. Luana, for providing her perspective of what being a Ranger is like. Barlow, for being a great leader while I was an Area Ranger. Rhythmi, who was one of the first people to befriend me." She trailed off; she was in a tranquil state of mind and smiled peacefully, with tears of happiness brewing in her eyes. "And…and you, Keith…"  
"Me?"  
"You're the special one. You've helped me in so many ways; from the minority that is motivation to the majority such as defending me. I'm grateful to my other friends here in Almia, but I'm most grateful to you, Keith."  
"Hmm." Keith looked up at the sky along with Alexa. "You know something? At first, I thought you'd be rather annoying, given our exchange of words when we first met. But you know what I believe made us friends that day?"  
"What?"  
"The moment we spoke in unison for the very first time, after sealing our promises in front of the Pledge Stone at school. I've never met anyone who said the same thing I did at the same time."  
"I must admit, it was a shock back then," Alexa stated. "But, yes, I can see what you mean. That was the first time where I spoke in unison with someone else too." Her tears fell down her cheeks slowly, but she still maintained her cheery disposition.  
"I know. We both blushed afterwards. After that, I think we've done virtually everything at school together. Our desks were even next to one another!" Keith laughed.  
"To tell you the truth, I'm glad I came here," Alexa confessed openly. "Not only did it make me realise that I can make friends, but it allowed me to meet the awesome people that ended up being friends. Sven, Wendy, Isaac, Professor Hastings, Chairperson Erma…Rhythmi…and you."  
"I'm happy to know that your life took a turn for the better," Keith said kindly. Alexa moved her hands away from her knees and rested her palms on the floor on either side of her.  
"It didn't just make a turn," Alexa began. "It took a U-Turn from a deceiving friendship and it headed towards a life with real friendship."  
"Yeah…I like your metaphor better," Keith said with a small laugh. "You're too nice a person to be treated like something at the bottom of a barrel."  
"Thanks, Keith," Alexa thanked politely. Keith moved his hands from his knees much like Alexa did. His right palm rested on the ground next to him, but his left palm accidentally touched Alexa's right hand. Both of them noticed this and looked at their hands in confusion. Noticing where their hands were, they quickly recoiled their hands as they faced one another with embarrassment while blushing. The embarrassment faded as the two of them both smiled and laughed nervously, but they were still blushing.

_A short while later…_

On the roof of the Union, Hastings, Barlow, Isaac, Sven, Wendy, Erma, Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel were all gathered around.  
"Alright, everyone, Isaac and I have devised a plan to thwart Team Dim Sun once and for all," Hastings began. "A mission of this magnitude deserves its own operation name. I think we shall borrow the name of the man who made our achievements thus far possible; we shall call it Operation Brighton."  
"I like that," Alexa smiled. "His diary was the soul reason why we were able to come so far."  
"Precisely," Hastings agreed. "However, this would not have been possible if you hadn't found the diary, Alexa. So, it's only fitting that you should be credited for discovering it."  
"I agree," Sven corroborated. Alexa smiled and blushed; she was flattered. Keith smiled towards her.  
"Now, the Shadow Crystal – based on the blueprints - will be set on top of the Altru Tower," Hastings continued. "In order for the Shadow Crystal to be rendered weak, the Blue and Red gems must be close to it. This will be difficult, so we have decided to leave this to our two best Top Rangers. Sven and Wendy."  
"Now you're talking! I've been waiting for a mission like this for ages!" Sven said enthusiastically. He and Wendy took the Blue and Red Gems respectively before leaving the roof.  
"Alexa, Keith, you two are to remain on standby during this operation," Hastings continued. "I know it's disappointing, but if anything goes wrong, we will need backup."  
"It's okay, I understand," Alexa sighed. "I just hope Sven and Wendy can succeed on their own if we want this to be over quickly."  
"Don't worry, we Area Rangers will do our part as well," Barlow volunteered.  
"Alright, everyone, let's hope for the best," Hastings stated. Alexa scoffed and she walked away from the roof. Ryder followed her.  
"Why do I get the feeling that she feels like she's being punished?" Keith asked openly.  
"Perhaps that is precisely how she feels, dear," Erma answered. Keith faced her in confusion. "She took the outcome of her mission to the Haruba Desert very hard. However, my hunch is she knows all too well that losing the Yellow Gem was inevitable, since they got you involved." Keith looked towards the escalator, looking guiltier than before.

_With Alexa…_

"Why do I get the feeling I'm being punished?" Alexa sighed. She and Ryder were heading towards the ground floor escalator.  
_We've established nobody blames you for losing the Yellow Gem,_ Ryder stated. _Besides, it should be my fault for losing it._  
"I don't know…I guess I was just denying the inevitable, since Heath dragged Keith into the whole mess," Alexa stressed.

**BOOM!**

"What the hell was that?!" Alexa exclaimed, startled. Murph ran up the escalator, looking panicky. He approached Alexa.  
"Alexa! There's a strange guy downstairs, and I think he means business!" he panicked. Alexa and Ryder ran down the escalator. They were furious as to who they found standing in front of the doorway.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Alexa asked angrily. "You have no business here!"  
"I have score with you, one thing, Alexa," Heath said with frustration, pointing to his left eye; he had a black eye.  
"You deserved everything I dished out on you in the Hippowdon Temple!" Alexa fumed; Heath's black eye reminded her of the circumstances that led to the punch what gave it to him. "Unless you want to have the capability to cosplay as a black and white Spinda, get the hell away from here!"  
"But first, here's something for payback," Heath stated, dishing out a Miniremo. An Electivire ran into the room and raced towards Alexa.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc towards the Electivire. Alexa attempted to control her capture disc properly, but the orbs of electricity Electivire had surrounding it made it difficult for her to do so, as they broke the capture line occasionally.  
"Urgh…! This is harder than I thought it would be," Alexa whispered spitefully towards Ryder.  
_Perhaps my Pokémon Assist ability can be used here?_ Ryder pondered.  
"Go for it," Alexa permitted. Ryder fired one of his Aura Spheres towards Alexa's capture disc.  
The Electivire, however, kicked the capture disc away from it, causing the Aura Sphere to hit its leg instead.  
"LEEEEEEEC!" The Electivire cried out in pain. Alexa and Ryder were left bewildered at what just occurred.  
"Um…okay…"  
_Should I try again?_  
"If you want to."  
Ryder fired another Aura Sphere towards the capture disc. This time, it was a direct hit; the capture disc absorbed the sphere and its power had been doubled. The Electivire was furious about its foot injuries, and it discharged its electricity around it. Alexa's capture disc took damage, but was still intact. Concerned about how much energy her styler had left, Alexa checked the energy level; little under half.  
"If this isn't over soon, my styler won't work!" she stressed. "I guess I should have it recharged after this is over."  
Soon after, Alexa's capture disc successfully captured and redeemed the hypnotised Electivire. The Electivire – despite its injury – left.

**BOOM!**

"What was that?!" Alexa exclaimed, turning towards the escalator leading to the first upper floor of the union.  
"My distraction did good!" Heath rejoiced. "You fell for me again! You fool!" he laughed. Ignoring him, Alexa and Ryder raced up the escalator.

_Upstairs…_

"There's no way I'll let you take Isaac!" Keith fumed. Alexa and Ryder ran over to him and Professor Hastings, who were defending Isaac from Ice. Alexa looked towards Ice and immediately helped Keith defend Isaac.  
"I'm not going back with you, Ice," Isaac said clearly.  
"Oh, come on, Isaac. I thought you and I were friends," Ice said mockingly. "I even shared my candy with you."  
"Big whoop," Alexa sighed sarcastically.  
"You deceived me!" Isaac yelled. "You're not promoting feelings of friendship into Pokémon!"  
"I mean, let's face it, Ice, hypnotising Pokémon is a funny way of promoting friendship into them!" Alexa scolded.  
"Your team is a disgrace!" Hastings fumed. "And I'll have you pay for the damage you caused!"  
"Professor, we have bigger things to worry about than the damage done to the building," Keith commented.  
"You're wasting your time!" Lavana sighed, making her way towards Ice. "Let me deal with this."  
"Who said you could steal the spotlight?" Ice asked rudely.  
"Your method will be too time consuming," Lavana sighed. "You've got to play dirty! Like this!" Lavana pulled Melody out from behind her and held her arm tightly.  
"Isaac, help!" Melody panicked. The sudden development horrified Isaac, but infuriated Keith, Alexa and Hastings.  
"Melody!"  
"Now, Isaac, you will come with us, won't you?" Lavana asked tauntingly. "You will if you care about your precious sister."  
"You dirty old hag!" Keith and Alexa both insulted Lavana in unison. Lavana looked at the duo in extreme anger.  
"Wha…did you just call me a hag?!" she asked angrily, in a seemingly uptight voice. "Why I ought to…!" She trailed off abruptly to clear her throat. "Anyway, Isaac, perhaps you just need a little bit of persuasion. Like so."  
"Ow! It hurts!" Melody complained as Lavana pinched her arm. This worried Isaac even more and made Keith and Hastings even angrier. Alexa, however, shut her eyes tightly and held her head with both of her hands, as if she was suffering from a migraine.  
"So, Isaac, what's your decision?" Lavana asked coldly. Alexa faced Lavana, looking angrier than she was with Heath.  
"You're not getting away with this, you-"  
"No, Alex!" Isaac abruptly interrupted her, placing his left hand over her mouth briefly. He soon lowered his hand. "I'll go…" Alexa and Keith faced him with concern.  
"Isaac…"  
"They're hurting Melody because of me," Isaac sighed. Hastings muttered under his breath as Isaac started making his way over to Lavana.  
"Isaac!" Alexa called sharply. "You know as well as I do that what you said isn't true! Can't you see they're trying to deceive you?!" Isaac faced her, looking somewhat angry.  
"What would you know?!" he asked rudely. "You can't understand what it feels like to have a member of your family being used against you!"  
Alexa said nothing. She could easily counter, but she restrained herself from doing so, despite having a clear understanding of what Isaac was feeling. She sighed to herself as she was forced to witness Lavana leaving with both Isaac and Melody.

"What, was I not needed for this raid or something?" Ice asked. "Oh well. At least I can do this." He pulled out his Miniremo and a hypnotised Garchomp entered the area. Hastings, Keith and Alexa panicked upon seeing the behemoth.  
"Garchomp is a very powerful and a very speedy Pokémon," Alexa began. "I don't think it'll be easy to capture this thing."  
"We'll see if your styler loses its energy from this beast," Ice stated, typing in a simple command. While Ice was typing, Keith noticed what energy Alexa's styler had left. The Garchomp charged towards Alexa.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc in an instant. Ryder fired an Aura Sphere at the disc, doubling its power. Despite the power boost, the Garchomp broke the capture line and charged towards Alexa.

**CRASH!**

"WHAAAAAA!"

The Garchomp struck both Alexa and Ryder with its right fin glowing in a white light. The two collided with the wall behind them and fell to the ground. Angry, Keith fired his capture disc and continued from where Alexa left off. Buizel fired a small bubble from his mouth and it hit Keith's capture disc. The capture disc spun around on the spot, forming a growing bubble around it. While the Garchomp stood around, Keith flicked the capture disc towards it, which caused the capture disc's bubble to hit the Garchomp causing it to slow down. Keith made his capture disc continuously spin around the slowed Garchomp; while this was happening, another bubble was formed. This was continuous, so Keith occasionally flicked the formed bubble at the Garchomp, making its movements more sluggish. As soon as Buizel's Pokémon Assist ability ran out on the capture disc, Garchomp was captured and redeemed.  
"Not too shabby. I can see why you're Top Rangers," Ice loosely complimented. "We'll have a rematch if we see each other at tomorrow's event." He then started to make his way out of the union.  
"The outcome…will still…be…the same, Ice…" Alexa strained as she and Ryder struggled to get back onto their feet; Garchomp's attack was powerful, which made their collision with the wall equally as powerful.  
_Regardless…of any…cheap shots…you make…_ Ryder panted in corroboration.  
"Until then, farewell," Ice stated, ignoring Alexa's statement. After he left, Keith and Hastings ran over to Alexa and Ryder.  
"Alex, are you two okay?!" Keith asked.  
"What was that attack?" Hastings queried.  
"Urgh…Brick Break," Alexa replied, still feeling the pain from the said attack. "It's a powerful Fighting type move that can break through defensive moves such as Light Screen and Reflect…!"  
"How's Ryder? He got hit too, didn't he?" Keith asked.  
_I'm part Steel type; I'm more vulnerable to Fighting type attacks,_ Ryder answered breathlessly; he got winded as a result of the Brick Break that collided with him. Alexa also appeared to have been winded from Brick Break.  
"Bad news, bad news, there's another creepy guy on the third floor!" Murph panicked, racing down the escalator.  
"Let's go, Ryder…!" Alexa and Ryder – despite their weakness – ran towards the escalator and headed up to the next floor.  
"Alex, wait!" Keith called.

_Upstairs…_

"In our boss's grandiose scheme, the Union is an inconvenience," Wheeler began. "I'm here to remove that eyesore."  
"Who are you? What do you want here?" Linda asked.  
"Are you a clown or something?" Rhythmi asked, somewhat rudely.  
"This floor is off-limits to everyone but those associated with the Union," Erma calmly scolded. "What is the meaning of this?"  
"What is the meaning of this? What about 'I demand an explanation'?" Wheeler asked mockingly. "Before I destroy this place, I want to pick up a certain Ranger; the one named Alexa."  
Alexa and Ryder – who hadn't heard Wheeler's words beforehand – arrived onto the scene. Rhythmi spotted them.  
"No, Alexa, stay back!" she cried. Alexa and Ryder faced her in confusion while Wheeler turned to face Alexa and Ryder.  
"Why, what's wrong?" Alexa asked calmly.  
"Ah, so you're the one the boss wants!" Wheeler exclaimed excitedly. Ryder snarled angrily; the fact that Wheeler was around was enough for him to get angry, never mind what he said.  
"What do you mean, I'm the one your boss wants?" Alexa asked in confusion. She suddenly gasped in horror; she remembered Blake Hall's gestures. "Oh, God…!"  
"Go, my Bidoof! Get the girl!" Wheeler commanded.  
_Not in THIS lifetime! _

**GYAAROO!**

Ryder roared with fury as he became surrounded in his own aura. This horrified everyone in the room, even Alexa.  
"Wh-what's going on?" Rhythmi asked.  
"I don't know, dear," Erma replied quietly. Ryder formed two Aura Spheres, one in each paw.  
_You'll regret EVER threatening Alex like that!_ He fired both Aura Spheres in separate directions; one destroyed the Miniremo controlling the Bidoof, the other hit Wheeler in the gut, knocking him into the turned off computer behind him. The Bidoof fled after they were redeemed. Ryder faced Wheeler with anger, still surrounded in his own aura.  
"Y-y-yikes!" Wheeler panicked. A Dim Sun minion walked down the escalator.  
"Mr Wheeler? We have already achieved our objectives of this raid," the minion began. "We should bail out."  
"Aiyee! I hadn't noticed that!" Wheeler exclaimed. He faced Alexa, who looked somewhat pale. "This isn't the end, my dear, no, don't go thinking that." He and the minion made their way up the escalator.  
"No…it's just begun. Get back here, you!" Alexa attempted to give chase, but…

**BOOM!**

The escalator leading to the roof became disabled. Alexa managed to avoid the small explosion what caused this.  
"Don't bother giving chase, dear," Erma began. "We need to work on our operation."

_A little while later…_

"I will adjust our strategy for Operation Brighton based on today's events," Hastings began. He, Erma, Alexa and Keith were in the Operations Room. Alexa had a bandage across her head, underneath her hair, and around her right forearm, while Ryder had a bandage around his forehead and just below the spike on his chest in addition to the bandage around his tail. "First and foremost, Isaac and Melody must be rescued. Alexa, Keith, despite everything thrown against you, you two still managed to protect the union. You two are promoted to Ranger Rank 9!"  
"Thanks, Professor," Keith thanked calmly. Alexa appeared to be in thought; why was Blake Hall so interested in her?  
"Voicemail, it's me, Sven!" Sven suddenly stated via voicemail. "They threw up a powerful barrier on top of the Altru Tower!"  
"It's impossible to get to the Shadow Crystal from the sky!" Wendy added. The transmission ended, leaving Erma and Hastings in shock.  
"I didn't expect it to be so easy," Erma said calmly.  
"They must have left it off of the blueprints for a reason," Hastings muttered. "But how do we eliminate the barriers?"  
"Professor…you realise that we still have two more Top Rangers here, don't we?" Erma hinted. Keith and Alexa – having understood the hint – faced each other in shock. Their shock quickly subsided as they turned confident and nodded once before facing forwards.  
"Although they're Top Rangers," Hastings began reluctantly. "They lack experience. As evidence, have a look at their expressions-"

Hastings and Erma faced Alexa and Keith and were soon shocked; both Alexa and Keith appeared to be determined, as did even their partner Pokémon.  
"They're…they're both looking at me with determination in their eyes…" Hastings stated quietly. "You…since when did either of you grow to be so…capable? And confident?"  
"I've always had to be capable and confident," Alexa began. "During my career as a Pokémon trainer – since I was at the age of 10 – I've had to face dangers of magnitudes such as what Operation Brighton may present. Although my previous experience may have presented me with fear, I was determined to see it through to the very end! I don't see why Operation Brighton should be any different! Despite how the strategy has changed, the main goal itself remains unfazed, and so should our approach to the operation itself! I, for one, am more than ready to prove that to everyone here!"  
"I don't care what Alex says," Keith began. "It's my fault we lost the Yellow Gem in the first place. But what's done is done, and I believe it's time to take things to the next level and end Team Dim Sun once and for all!" Alexa looked over at Keith in confusion. "Let's not forget what's riding on this operation; we're trying to prevent Pokémon from suffering! That's the job of any Pokémon Ranger, not just us Top Rangers! That's what I want to prove to you!"  
"Fine. I understand. I must have been oblivious all along," Hastings started. "No more treating you like rookies. I promise. Alexa, Keith…I am presenting you with a mission truly worthy of Top Rangers."  
"We're ready!" Alexa and Keith declared simultaneously. Buizel and Ryder nodded concurrently.  
"Number one; you two are to infiltrate Altru Tower and rescue Isaac and Melody. Number two; you are to locate and reclaim the Yellow Gem. Number three; Keith, you are to take a Staraptor and fly the Yellow Gem to above the tower and join Sven and Wendy. Alexa, you are to remain at the tower by yourself; you are assigned the key role in Operation Brighton."  
"The…key role?" Alexa asked; she and Ryder were equally shocked at such a development.  
"Indeed," Hastings confirmed. "You are to make your way up the tower while disabling the three barrier layers. Afterwards, guide the three flying Rangers to the Shadow Crystal. Alexa…it goes without saying that you will be the one to face the most foes along the way. This will be a harrowing, challenging and ultimately rewarding mission! My lips are trembling as I issue these very commands!"  
"Sven and Wendy in the sky," Erma began. "Our dedicated Operators. The research staff that forego sleep to decipher the diary. Murph with his happy personality. Everyone has their own responsibilities, duties, their own purpose of being. Everyone is supported by each other. We all need each other. If no one forgets this, Operation Brighton cannot fail."  
"All right, people. Operation Brighton, part two! Let us restart!" Hastings exclaimed.  
"One more thing, dears," Erma began. "I have noticed that you two have made your bond of friendship stronger. Perhaps this operation will be a test for you."  
"A test?" Keith asked.  
"Yes, dear. A test to see how strong your friendship really is," Erma explained.  
"How strong?" Alexa questioned.  
"You two will be working together for a majority of this operation," Erma continued. "This will mean that your friendship will be tested. This operation will prove to us – and to the pair of you – how strong your friendship is in terms of how loyal you are, how much you care for one another and how well you perform as a team. Are you absolutely ready to put your very friendship to the test?" Alexa didn't look so sure; she self-proclaimed that her friends back home were no longer her friends, meaning that she had yet to test her own loyalty.  
"I'm ready," Keith stated confidently. Alexa faced him in shock, whereas he faced her looking faithful already. "How about you?" Alexa appeared to be insecure, but, remembering that Keith was her best friend, whom she could confide in, also turned confident, looking towards him with a loyal demeanour.  
"If you're ready, there's no reason why I shouldn't be," she replied. "We're in this together!"  
"Let's go!" Keith, Alexa and their partner Pokémon raced out of the union. Hastings and Erma watched them leave.

"Erma? Could you see something else in Alexa's eyes?" Hastings asked curiously. "I somehow felt insecure around her."  
"Perhaps Alexa doesn't lack in experience as you first assumed," Erma answered.

The scene changed to the outdoors; Alexa, Keith, Buizel and Ryder were all running along the Union Road at top speed side by side. Nightfall was upon them.

"We mustn't forget, Alexa has come from a life of a Pokémon Trainer. If anything, she is not to be underestimated."

_To be continued…_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen - Operation Brighton! A Test of Friendship! (pt I)**

Keith, Buizel, Alexa – still with her support bandage on her left elbow, her bandage around her right forearm and with her bandage around her head – and Ryder – still with his tail bandage and chest bandage – ran into the Altru Park and looked up at the sky.  
"Whoa…it's like a nightmare tower," Keith observed. There were three layers of light around the top of the tower; yellow, pink and blue. Dark clouds were also forming on the top of the tower.  
"Look at that darkness…it's heartbreaking to think that this eyesore is going to cause so much suffering to Pokémon if nothing is done tonight," Alexa stated.  
"But we can't let how it looks get in our way!" Keith exclaimed. "Everyone's counting on this operation to succeed!"  
"You're right. It's time for us to see what we're truly made of!" Alexa declared. Ryder looked up at her, smiling confidently.  
_I'm right behind you, all the way!_ He declared boldly.  
"Bui-bui!" Buizel looked up at Keith bravely. Keith and Alexa faced their respective partner Pokémon and then formed a square between them.  
"Okay, everyone, if what Chairperson Erma said is true, then our friendships will be tested here," Keith began. "So let's make a quick promise right here, right now. We stick together until we get to the top area of the tower!"  
"And help each other out along the way!" Alexa added, holding out her right arm. Keith held out his right arm and rested his hand on top of Alexa's.  
"I can agree to that!"  
"Bui!" Buizel rested his paw on top of Keith's hand.  
_No matter what, we're all in this!_ Ryder rested his paw on top of Buizel's. The foursome then ran towards Altru Tower.

_Outside the Altru Building…_

"Is this some sort of joke?!" a male employee asked angrily. "The company can't fire us without warning!"  
"Don't treat us workers like we're disposable!" a second male employee scolded. "We demand to know why we're being fired!"  
"What's going on?!" Keith asked loudly. He, Alexa and the Pokémon arrived on the scene quickly.  
"Sorry, there's no admittance unless you have authorisation," the Dim Sun admin stated.  
"Of course we have authorisation!" Keith smirked.  
"We have the authorisation to kick your sorry asses out of the company!" Alexa added, also smirking.  
"Rangers with clearance to enter? Don't make me laugh!" the admin scolded. He took out a Miniremo and a hypnotised Yanmega flew onto the scene.

"Capture on!" Both Alexa and Keith fired their capture discs at the large bug Pokémon. Buizel fired a small bubble from his mouth and Ryder fired an Aura Sphere from his paws; both attacks hit their respective partners' capture discs, allowing Keith to slow down Yanmega and doubling the power of Alexa's capture disc. Combined, the act of capturing and redeeming Yanmega was quick and effortless.  
"Gah! You meddlesome Rangers!" the admin fled into the building while Alexa and Keith reclaimed their capture discs.  
"Let's go, Alex!" Keith exclaimed. He, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel ran into the building.

_Inside…_

Alexa and Keith looked around as they walked, while Buizel and Ryder were slightly further ahead. The four of them suddenly noticed two minions blocking the entrance with two metal barricades.  
"There, that ought to keep those law-abiding employees and those annoying Rangers!" one of the minions said happily.  
"A-hem!" Alexa and Keith cleared their throats loudly on purpose. The two minions faced them and became horrified.  
"What're Rangers doing in here?!" the second minion asked the first.  
"Run away!" the first one exclaimed.  
"The barricades are in the way!" the second one cried. Alexa sighed as she, Ryder, Keith and Buizel headed for the elevator.

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

An alarm set off, startling Alexa and Keith. Ryder covered his ears, annoyed about the noise, and Buizel shut his eyes, annoyed at the flashing red light. The alarm and red light ceased when a female admin and two minions exited the elevator.  
"Kindly explain to me how Rangers could get this far?" the admin asked pompously.  
"You're not getting away with anything!" Keith cautioned angrily.  
"This is where your time in the spotlight comes to an end, Dim Sun!" Alexa promised furiously.  
"Ewww, you're so pushy and primitive! Make them go away, minions!" the admin commanded.  
"Your epic adventure ends here, Rangers!" a male minion stated. He and a female minion each set up a Miniremo. A hypnotised Weezing and a hypnotised Skuntank entered the scene.  
"Alex, I'll take care of Skuntank, leaving you with Weezing, okay?" Keith asked.  
"That's fine with me, mate," Alexa agreed as the two young Top Rangers readied their stylers.

"Capture on!"

As Weezing and Skuntank were relatively easy Pokémon to befriend, the capture discs didn't take long to redeem them of the Miniremo's grasp.  
"You won't stop Mr Hall! I won't allow it!" the admin fumed, setting up her own Miniremo. A Shiftry and two Nuzleaf were summoned, all of which were hypnotised.  
"I take Shiftry, you take the Nuzleaf?" Alexa asked towards Keith.  
"No problem, buddy," Keith approved.

"Capture on!"

Alexa's capture disc aimed for the lone Shiftry while Keith's capture disc set course for the two Nuzleaf. It only took approximately one and a half minutes for Keith to capture the Nuzleaf, so he allowed his capture disc to assist Alexa's, ultimately allowing her to capture Shiftry. Alexa and Keith high-fived as the three Pokémon flee with their freedom.  
"Oh, you're good! But beating me with your captures won't get you passed me!" the admin scolded. "Minions, grab them!"  
Alexa and Keith stood back to back as the minions started to advance on them. Buizel stood in front of Keith while Ryder stood in front of Alexa, both protecting their partners.  
"You have no honour!" Keith fumed.

TARGET…

The Dim Sun squad, as well as Alexa and Keith, looked around in confusion.

CLEAAAR!

**BANG!**

"Alexa! Keith! Are you two alright?!" Barlow asked loudly. Keith and Alexa – as well as Buizel and Ryder – were happy to see who broke into the building; the Vientown Troupe of Barlow, Crawford and Luana. The threesome approached Alexa and Keith as the minions made way in fear.  
"We Area Rangers got the call to support your Operation Brighton," Barlow explained. "You two need to keep going, let us deal with the dead weight!"  
All of the Dim Sun people were petrified as the five Rangers – and two Pokémon – advanced on them. Luana, Crawford and Barlow rounded the Dim Sun people into the nearest corner. Alexa and Keith headed towards the elevator.  
"Alexa!" Barlow called. Alexa stopped and faced him in confusion; he looked at her with a smile. "I told you we'd be working together again." Alexa smiled warmly at him and nodded at him. She went into the elevator with Keith.

_Inside the elevator…_

"Eh? This elevator hasn't got any buttons," Keith stated. "How is this thing supposed to work?"  
"Keith, look!" Alexa pointed to a small computer-like device next to the elevator doors. Keith went over to the strange device.  
"It must be one of those password protected things," Keith assumed. "Hey, Isaac had access to this building! He should have a password!"  
"Let's try it and see," Alexa established.  
"Okay, let's get into an Isaac state of mind…" Keith said to himself. "Hey, maybe…mushroom?"  
"Um…no?"  
"Okay, um…what about glasses?"  
"Keith, you know as well as I do Isaac doesn't wear those."  
"Oh, okay," Keith laughed. "Hey! What about Melody?"  
"Perfect!" Alexa confirmed. Keith typed in the password and stood next to Alexa in the middle of the elevator.  
"Okay, we're going to the 9th floor from here," he stated. "That Isaac…he really does adore Melody. He's a good guy to care so much about his sister."  
"I know," Alexa sighed. "I should really tell him about my own little sibling…I should tell him that I have my own little brother."

**CLUNG!**

"Huh? The elevator's stopped!" Keith observed.

_CLICK!_

"Aagh!" Alexa had become taken aback at the sudden blackout.  
"Are you alright in there? I'm here to rescue you," said a mysterious voice. "Hold on!"

_PUSH!_

"Whoa!" Keith felt something pushing him forwards. The lights suddenly came back on.  
"Hah! I lied!" a male Dim Sun admin laughed. Keith turned around and found Buizel and Ryder growling at the admin. When he faced the admin, Keith found out why; the admin held Alexa captive, with his left hand clasped over her mouth. Alexa appeared to be taken aback, but was otherwise unharmed if her previous – and bandaged – injuries were excluded.  
"Hey! Let her go!" Keith demanded. "What do you want from her!?"  
_It's Blake Hall, I know it is!_ Ryder's growling intensified and it became snarling. His fangs were clearly visible, which made him appear to be intimidating.  
"I don't; it's the boss's orders. But this is the end of the road for you!" the admin set up a Miniremo and a hypnotised Dusclops entered the elevator. Keith readied his styler. Alexa looked at him worriedly.  
"Don't worry, Alex, I'll save you! Capture on!" he fired his capture disc at the Dusclops. Despite the Dusclops's habit of disappearing and reappearing at random times, Keith eventually succeeded in capturing the Dusclops. It then fled from the area.  
"N-nooooo! Please don't hurt me!" the admin pleaded.  
"Let my friend go and I won't!" Keith threatened.  
"O-of course!" The admin released Alexa, and she ran over to Keith. Ryder hugged her happily.  
"Alex, are you okay?" Keith asked with concern. Alexa looked up at him happily.  
"I'm fine. Thanks for saving me, Keith."  
"Oh, I know! I have a rope ladder here! Please, feel free to use it!" The admin stepped aside while Alexa and Keith headed for the ladder. Keith went up it first with Buizel on his shoulder. Alexa followed on, and then Ryder followed her.

Keith climbed out of the elevator and helped Alex up onto the roof of the elevator. Ryder joined them instantly after Alexa was pulled up. Buizel tapped Keith's shoulder and pointed to another ladder.  
"Looks like we can climb up," Keith stated. He, Alexa and Ryder headed for the ladder. Like before, Keith went up first, then Alexa, and Ryder in third place.  
"By the way," Keith began. "Ryder assumed Blake Hall was behind that guy's actions. Why does Blake Hall want you anyway?" Keith asked. Alexa seemed reluctant.  
"Keith…I really need to tell you this now," Alexa sighed. She and Keith had ended up on the next level, but they encountered another Dim Sun admin.  
"Fwaaaaah! I'm worn out from waiting for you!" he fumed. "Heath was saying you don't look much in the way of intimidating."  
"Oh come on! Did he even say anything about how I almost kicked his ass?!" Alexa asked with frustration.  
"His eye is better, thanks," the admin said sarcastically. He dished out a Miniremo and summoned two hypnotised Gabites. "Oh, and he's given me orders to obtain a certain Ranger that gave him the black eye."  
Keith immediately stepped in front of Alexa protectively. He readied his styler as the Gabites prepared to attack.  
"I won't let you take her that easily! Capture on!" he fired his capture disc and it spun around the two Gabites. However, one attacked the capture disc to defend the other, much to Keith's frustration.  
"Capture on!" Alexa's capture disc flew passed Keith and it circled around the second Gabite.  
"Huh?" Keith looked over at Alex in confusion.  
"I won't let them take me that easily either!" Alexa stated in corroboration. "Besides, we're in this together!"  
Keith smiled at her before he and Alexa focused on the captures. It wasn't long before both Gabites were captured at the exact same time.  
"Urgh…Heath told me wrong! You're all ridiculously powerful!" the admin panicked as he jumped down to the lower level.

"Did…did he just jump down?" Alexa questioned.  
"Never mind, let's keep going," Keith suggested. They climbed up the next ladder in the same order as previously. "By the way, what was it you were wanting to say earlier?" Keith asked.  
"Oh yeah. I need to tell you Blake kissed me on my hand...twice," Alexa replied in a sigh. She climbed up onto the next level and looked at Keith in confusion; he looked frustrated. "Keith?"  
"Look." Alexa faced whatever it was annoying Keith.  
"I knew it had to be you!" one of the two female admins scolded. "Don't pretend you don't know us, we're the Dim Sun Crimson Unit!"  
"Oh, what a shame! And here I thought were dealing with Ice's troupe!" Alexa said playfully.  
"Back then, we used to be minions! Now we're admins!" the second one declared. "Our wizardry in makeup brought us promotions!"  
"Yeah, yeah, that's very nice of you," Alexa muttered. "Cheap!" she coughed; the cough itself was fake to hide her use of the word cheap.  
"Now we're returning the humiliation you gave us at the Boyleland Volcano back to you!" the first admin said angrily.  
"Sorry, I don't do refunds," Alexa said mockingly. The two admins set up a Miniremo each, summoning two hypnotised Gengars.  
"Are these to apprehend Alex as well?!" Keith asked interrogatively. Alexa faced him in confusion.  
"Keith, let's save that for when they're not here!" Alexa suggested. "Capture on!" her capture disc was released at the two Gengar.  
"Capture on!" Keith fired his capture disc at the second Gengar. With a combined effort, the captures took less than a minute.

"Oh, my makeup's ruined again!" the first admin complained.  
"You'd better not forget this! Even though we may never meet again!" the second one scolded. The two of them then jumped down to the next level.  
"Let's hope we don't, because I don't want reminding!" Alexa yelled mockingly towards the two admins.  
"What do you mean, he kissed your hand?" Keith asked quickly. Alexa faced him in confusion.  
"Well, uh…" Ryder tapped Keith's arm, getting his attention. He took Alexa's right hand before looking up at him.  
_Perhaps it's better explained with a demonstration,_ he sighed. He didn't officially do it, but he imitated Blake's gesture by pretending to kiss the back of Alex's hand.  
"That's what he did?" Keith asked.  
"Yeah, Ryder was there for both times," Alexa answered. "Anyhow, we can't stand around, Isaac and Melody are still in danger!"  
"Oh, right!" Keith, Alexa, Buizel and Ryder continued on their way out.

The exit was in sight, but another male admin got in their way. Alex and Keith readied themselves.  
"Hello, Rangers. I'm under orders from Ice to treat you with the utmost courtesy," the admin stated.  
"Courtesy?" Keith asked, slightly laughing.  
"You guys don't know the meaning of the word," Alexa taunted.  
"I can offer various grades of guest services, including Courses A through C," the admin continued. "But, for you Rangers, I think the very best will do; the S Course. The S being squashed, of course!" He set up a Miniremo. Nothing came out yet. However…  
"Alex, look out!" Keith sharply pulled Alexa away from the area as a hypnotised Mamoswine made its speedy way towards her. Ryder became frustrated, so he destroyed the Miniremo with his Aura Sphere. The Mamoswine soon left, as did the admin, out of frustration. Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel exited.

They found themselves inside a ventilation system. They followed the path until they saw an open hatch in the floor. They jumped through the hole and bounced their way down the junk pile underneath the hole until they got to the floor.  
"Urgh! Smells fierce in here!" Keith complained.  
"Why is there a junk pile right underneath the vent?" Alexa questioned. "It seems so out of place." She, Keith and the Pokémon cautiously exited the room.

They entered an open corridor. They saw three Dim Sun admins outside something that resembled a locked gate, and another one between the lock and the door it was guarding. They quickly hid behind the nearest corner and eavesdropped on the conversation.  
"Is the Yellow Gem secure?" a fifth admin asked. "I've received word that Rangers have infiltrated the building!"  
"The Yellow Gem's secure in the back here," one of the admins replied. "The gate won't open easily, don't worry about it."  
"Our Miniremo's are the keys to the gate," another admin began. "Unless they're destroyed, that gate's staying shut."  
"Alright, remember what to do?" the admin behind the gate asked. "If we spot any Rangers, we nab them, then bind them up a smidgeon on the tight side. That done, we'll march them to Ice and file our report. Got it?"  
"What about that girl the boss wants?" the female admin asked. "What should we do if she's one of the Rangers here?"  
"Easy," the gate admin began. "Once the report's done, we'll hand the gift-wrapped Ranger girl over to him!"  
"Okay!" the four admins scattered. Keith pulled Alexa away from the view of the admins and waited for a few seconds.  
"Okay…at least we know where the Yellow Gem is…" Keith began quietly. "If we can destroy the Miniremos that unlock the gate, we can get the gem back."  
"Easier said than done, you heard what they said!" Alex exclaimed in a whisper. "If they catch us, it's game over! And I don't think I fancy being gift-wrapped myself, if I'm honest!"  
"I still can't understand why the boss is keen to nab you," Keith began quietly. "But I won't let that happen. I promise. Just stay close to me."  
"Okay. You know I trust you," Alexa smiled, offering her right hand to him. Keith took her right hand in his left.

The two Rangers – hand in hand – snuck passed the locked gate and they went through the door next to the gate, ignoring the door with the steel frame in front of it. Keith closed the door behind him, but Alexa noticed Buizel and Ryder snarling angrily. Keith and Alexa soon found a female admin standing at the far end of the room.  
"Hah! You walked right into my trap!" the admin laughed, setting up a Miniremo. "I'll capture you and take you in! Mr Hall will be impressed!"  
_No he won't,_ Ryder sighed. Without any effort, he fired an Aura Sphere from his right paw, destroying the Miniremo.

_HWHOO!_

"Huh? That's odd," the guard outside began. "One of the shield plates is gone. When did that happen? Malfunction?"

"Urgh…this could mean trouble for the gate…" the female admin left the room. Keith and Alexa faced Ryder.  
"Why did you use Aura Sphere on the Miniremo?" Keith asked.  
_Easy; to speed things up,_ Ryder answered.  
"Speed things up, huh? Nice idea," Alexa complimented. "Let's move onto the next one."

_In a second room…_

Alexa and Keith entered a bathroom with a smoke alarm at the far end of the room. They heard quiet sniggering.  
"Those Rangers will never know I've taken refuge in here," a male voice sniggered. "Oh shush! Not so loud, me!"  
Alexa and Keith sighed silently. They then saw Ryder and Buizel sneaking towards the cubicle at the far end of the room. Ryder knocked on the door three times.  
"Um…it's occupied!" the man inside stated.  
"Ryder, Buizel, get away from there!" Keith warned in a whisper; he and Alexa appeared to be panicking. Buizel knocked on the door three times; he and Ryder appeared to be enjoying themselves.  
"I said it's occupied!" the man said with frustration. Ryder knocked on the door twice. "Look, I said it's occupied! Unless it rains in here or something, I'm not coming out!" Ryder faced Alexa.  
_That's it!_ He stated in a low murmur as he pointed up at the ceiling, causing Alexa and Keith to look up. _We can set off those sprinklers to get this clown out!_  
Alexa and Keith looked at one another in confusion. They nodded and snuck over to the smoke alarm.  
_Since I have a pseudo-flame attack, I should do the honours._ Ryder moved close to the smoke alarm and opened his mouth; the green fire that was Dragon Pulse developed in his gaping jaw. He held the attack until the red light on the top of the smoke alarm lit up.

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

The smoke alarm set off, causing the sprinklers to activate, releasing water all over the entire room. The Dim Sun admin ran out of the closed cubicle.  
"It's raining in the toilet?! You've got to be kidding me!" he gasped in horror. He suddenly noticed Alexa and Keith. "Pokémon Rangers!? You're behind this downpour?! What if I catch a cold?! Ever think of that?!"  
"Yeah; at least you'd be getting a few days off from work," Keith said sarcastically. The admin set up a Miniremo, but Ryder – having readied it in advance – fired an Aura Sphere at it, destroying it.

_HWHOO!_

"Huh? Now this isn't right," the guard began. "Another shield plate is gone! There're two more left, so I think it'll be alright…"

"I'm soaked and chilled to the bone…this is just the worst…!" the admin complained. He sneezed as he left.  
"Well we're soaked, but you don't hear us complaining," Keith sighed. "Two more to go now."

_In the third room…_

Alexa and Keith entered a darkened room. Neither one of them could clearly see in front of them, hence they failed to notice the wild Scyther nearby until…

_SLASH!_

"Aaaaaagh!" The wild Scyther struck and attacked Alexa's right knee. Ryder quickly attacked the Scyther with Dark Pulse; Ryder hit the Scyther perfectly due to his incredible aura sensing abilities.

_CLICK!_

Buizel managed to turn on the light in the room. Alexa was sitting on the floor, with her right knee bleeding due to the Scyther's attack; her knee had a large cut across it, which caused her knee to bleed a rather large amount of blood, which dripped down her leg. Keith hurried over to her.  
"Alex, you okay?!" he asked. "What happened?!"  
"That…that Scyther attacked me!" Alexa exclaimed in shock. The shock was more from seeing the unconscious Scyther rather than the actual act of it attacking. A male Dim Sun admin revealed himself from the pile of boxes at the far end of the room.  
"Well done, finding me. I'm impressed, Rangers," he began. "But I'm not giving up that easily!" he set up a Miniremo, but Ryder used a swift Dark Pulse to destroy it.

_HWHOO!_

"Hah? There's only one plate left?!" the guard exclaimed in horror. "Oh, what's the fate of the gate with only one shield plate?! Not even rhymes can help me now!"

"A crushing defeat…I'll take full responsibility for it…by running away!" the admin panicked, fleeing from the room. Keith went over to the water cooler, got a cup of water and splashed it over Alexa's knee and leg. He took out a familiar-looking cloth and wiped the cut gently.  
"Wh-where did you get that?" Alexa asked, trying her best to endure the pain.  
"You gave it to me, remember? It's the one you had in the Chroma Ruins," Keith answered as he started to wipe away the blood that dripped down her leg.  
"Oh, the one I rubbed the Lavender oil into?" Alexa questioned. Keith – after cleaning the blood from her leg – tied the cloth around the cut and helped Alexa back onto her feet.  
"That's the one. You gave it to me because I hadn't prepared for Skuntank's stink in advance," Keith smiled.  
_Let's get to the final Miniremo before the Scyther wakes up again,_ Ryder suggested, pointing to the door.  
"You're right, let's go," Alexa agreed.

_In the fourth room…_

"I had time to tidy the room, waiting for you interlopers to come along," the male admin began. "Now I'm going to make tidy work of you!" he declared, setting up a Miniremo.  
_I don't think so,_ Ryder huffed. He took a deep breath, allowing the Dragon Pulse to form in his mouth and he fired it at the Miniremo, destroying it.  
"I…I got closed down!" the admin panicked, fleeing from the room.

_HWHOO!_

"Aiyee! The gate's been completely breached!" the guard panicked as the large gate opens up. "You're forcing me to do this! I'm going to stand in your way with my arms outstretched!"  
"Doesn't look like it from where we're standing," Keith taunted. He, Ryder and Buizel approached the guard casually. Keith was supporting Alexa due to her injured knee; her left arm was over his shoulders, and he held her up by her waist.  
"Yeah, well, I'm the gate now!" the guard fumed. "Try getting passed me!" he challenged, setting up a Miniremo.  
_I can do this all day, and I'd enjoy it._ Ryder fired another Aura Sphere at the Miniremo, destroying it.  
"Oh, no…it keeps getting worse!" the guard fled, allowing Ryder, Buizel, Keith and Alexa into the room ahead.

_Inside…_

"Look!" Alexa exclaimed happily; the Yellow Gem was inside a protective force field.  
"Yes! It's the Yellow Gem!" Keith cheered.  
_Allow me._ Ryder deactivated the barrier with a small Aura Sphere attack. Ryder then collected the Gem.  
"Now we've got everything we need for Operation Brighton!" Keith said happily.  
"Thank you, Ryder!" Alexa thanked.  
"Rangers!" the scientists in the room approached Alexa and Keith. "Please rescue Professor Isaac!"  
"His sister Melody is being held hostage! They're threatening her with harm to make Professor Isaac comply!" another one explained. "He's being forced to complete the programming for the tower's software!" Alexa looked angry.  
"That Lavana…! I won't forgive her…!" she hissed.  
"Professor Isaac should be on the 10th floor," another scientist explained. "I'll unlock the door right now!" the scientist went over to a control panel and typed in a command. "There, the lock's open now, you can get to the 10th floor!"  
"Thanks! Alex, do you think you can keep up the pace?" Keith asked with concern.  
"Even if I can't, I have to," Alexa replied bluntly. "Our roles are important, we can't back down, no matter what!"

_To be continued…_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen – Operation Brighton! A Test of Friendship! (pt II)**

_Up on the 10th floor…_

Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel approached one of the doors down a minor corridor. Keith was still supporting Alexa by holding her up by her waist, and Alexa's left arm was still over Keith's shoulders.  
"What are you doing?!" Isaac asked in horror, from inside the room. This startled Keith and Alexa.  
"Isaac!" Keith called.  
"We're here for you, Isaac, just hold on!" Alexa cried.  
"Keith! Alex! Whaa!"  
"Isaac! Don't you care about your cute little sister?" a male voice asked tauntingly from inside the room. "Hurry up and finish adjusting the software!"  
"Isaac!" Keith and Alexa separated and attempt to bash the door down. They failed, however.  
"It's no good! It won't open!" Keith exclaimed.  
"Ryder, can you give it a try?!" Alexa asked desperately.  
_Let's turn things up a notch!_ Ryder surrounded himself with his aura and fired a series of Aura Spheres at the door. Ryder's aura faded, as did the smokescreen given off by the Aura Spheres; the door was unfazed.  
_What?! It had no effect?!_ Ryder's absolutely horrified.  
"What're we supposed to do now?!" Keith asked in a panic. Alexa's styler picked up a voicemail. She answered it, and she and Keith listened.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, it's Barlow here!" Barlow began. "The Dim Sun goons on the ground floor have all been arrested. We're heading back to Pueltown to sort out the troubles there, give me a shout if you need anything!"  
"Wait, Barlow, don't hang up!" Keith exclaimed suddenly. He faced Alexa and vice versa. "I have an idea," he told her calmly.

_On the ground floor…_

"What's up, Keith?" Barlow asked. Crawford and Luana had escorted the arrested Dim Sun goons out of the building.  
"We need your help with something!" Keith replied via voicemail. "We need to borrow your…power."  
"My power? You'd want Big Bertha if you need something heavy carried," Barlow began. "Or do you mean my trademark field move?"  
"That's the one!" Keith confirmed. "Alex and I are close to reaching Isaac, but we can't get to him!"  
"I'm on my way!" Barlow stated. "Where are you two?"  
"We're on the 10th floor!" Alexa replied via voicemail. "The elevator goes straight to the 9th floor, it shouldn't take any more than 30 seconds."  
"Gotcha!" Barlow ended the transmission. "Crawford, you're in charge while I'm gone; I've got an errand to run!" Barlow ran towards the elevator.

_Back on the 10th floor…_

"We're in business here, Alex!" Keith sighed with relief. "Knowing Barlow, he'll be here in 5 seconds, I bet."  
"Alexa! Keith!" Barlow shouted. He ran over to the two Rangers. "Sorry to keep you waiting."  
"Nah, you didn't keep us waiting for long," Alexa smiled.  
"We didn't wait at all!" Keith laughed.  
"This door right here?" Barlow asked, looking towards the door. Alexa and Keith moved away from the door as Barlow investigated. "That's some door alright. Altru does things right, I must admit." He took a few steps back. "Target clear!" he rammed into the door. It didn't budge. "Nope. If this door were the enemy, I'd shake his hand for being so tough. Alexa, Keith, can you help me?"  
"Sure!" Alexa and Keith both agreed and approach him.  
"Ready?" Barlow asked.  
"Yep!" Alexa and Keith confirmed simultaneously.  
"Let's knock it down!" Barlow declared. He, Alexa and Keith all took a few steps back. Ryder and Buizel joined in as well, eager to get to Isaac.

**TARGET… **

Inside the locked room, Isaac, Melody and the Dim Sun admins looked around in confusion.

**GROWAAAAAAH!**

The door broke down as Barlow, Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel broke through. Keith and Barlow ran up the steps and confronted the Dim Sun admins while Alexa was left on the lower level, exhausted. Ryder helped her up.  
"Freeze, you Dim Sun goons!" Keith yelled demandingly.  
"Alex! Keith!" Isaac exclaimed happily. Ryder carefully walked Alexa up to meet Keith; the cloth over her knee had started to become more bloodstained.  
"Rangers!?" one of the admins panicked.  
"We'll bill the union for breaking that door down," a second admin said calmly.  
"Oh, boo, your pathetic organisation won't last long enough for the bill to be processed anyway!" Alexa scolded.  
"You're too late anyway," the admin sighed. "And by a minute too."  
"Isaac finished the Incredible Machine's programming," the female admin began. "Now we don't need you anymore. You know what that means?"  
"Isaac!" Melody panicked.  
"Melody…" Isaac faced his sister with concern.  
"That goes for the gate crashers too!" another male admin scolded. "This is the end for you!" Alexa – now filled with rage – stood up properly and confronted the admins as though she hadn't been injured at all, which horrified Keith and Ryder.  
"You just try that and see!" she fumed. "I can't stand it when someone's younger brother or sister is used against them just so the enemy can get what they want! To me, such an act is unforgivable!" Alexa readied her styler. "How dare you use Melody to force Isaac into finishing something so immoral and unjustified! I won't let you get away with this!"  
"Alex…" Isaac looks over at Alexa and noticed her injuries; the support bandage over her left elbow, the bandage across her right forearm, the bandage across her head and the bloodied cloth tied around her right knee. Regardless, Alexa stood tall and firm.  
"Good for you. Alakazam, get her!" the admin commanded. The hypnotised Alakazam prepared for an assault.  
"Alex, watch out!" Keith warned.

"Capture on!"

Alexa fired her capture disc at the Alakazam. The Alakazam was paused while the capture disc was spinning around it.  
"Ryder, use Dark Pulse!" Alexa stated towards her Lucario.  
_It'll be my pleasure!_ Ryder fired the dark beam of purple rings at the Psi Pokémon.  
Barlow and Keith watched with amazement as they saw their injured friend masterfully controlling her capture disc to befriend the hypnotised Alakazam despite her wounds. It wasn't too long before the Alakazam was freed, and it soon fled.  
"This can't be happening!" the male admin exclaimed in denial. "Run away!" the two male admins and the female admin tried to flee.  
"Whoa, hold on! We're nowhere near the end, the drama's just begun!" Barlow exclaimed tauntingly, rounding up the three admins.  
"Isaac!" Melody immediately ran over to Isaac and he held onto her. Alexa's right knee gave way and toppled over, but Keith caught her in his arms before she fell.  
"Melody…" Isaac faced Barlow, who appeared to be arresting the three admins. "Barlow…" He then faced Keith, who was preparing to support Alexa again. "Keith, Alex… I…I…I completed the wicked program."  
"Save it, we don't care," Keith started, putting his left arm around Alexa's waist to hoist her up.  
"You and Melody are safe. That's what matters to us," Alexa continued, placing her left arm around Keith's shoulders.  
"We'll handle things from here on in," Keith offered.  
"Then I'll go too," Isaac stated. "I know my way around the tower above us pretty well. And you need to disable special software for taking the barriers down. I know how to do that. Take me with you!"  
"That settles it then," Barlow began, making his way up the steps. "It's because of Isaac this operation came together. I say he has every right to see this through to the very end."  
"I concur," Alexa agreed.  
"I'll escort Melody back to Pueltown," Barlow offered. "It'll mean dragging the clowns from earlier, but no biggie. Alexa, Keith, Isaac, the success of the operation is in your hands!"  
"Thank you, everyone," Melody thanked, making her way over to Barlow. "Isaac! When this is over, spend lots of time with me! Promise!" She and Barlow – as well as the arrested admins – left the room.  
"Okay, let's go, Isaac," Keith stated. Isaac walked over to him and Alexa.  
"M-my knees are knocking, but it's only from adrenaline," Isaac said shakily.

_A little while later…_

Isaac, Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel approached a door leading to the roof. They found it with a static electricity force field. Isaac walked over to the control panel next to the door.  
"I'll unlock the door to the roof," he stated, typing into the control panel. The door was disengaged and opened. "There! Let's keep moving!"

_Up on the roof…_

Keith, Isaac, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel stood outside the door leading into the Altru Tower.  
"I'll update Professor Hastings," Keith stated, readying his styler for voicemail. He contacted Hastings.  
"Voicemail, it's Hastings, I say!" he began. "I've received word from Barlow! Excellent work, all of you! I'm having a Staraptor sent to you now! Keith, ride it with the Yellow Gem. Join Sven and Wendy overhead!" the voicemail ended. Alexa looked rather depressed.  
"Oh, right…I forgot this is where we part ways," she sighed. She was no longer being supported, forcing her to support herself. Keith faced her with concern.  
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.  
"I have to be. Our roles are important, we have to carry them out no matter what!" Alexa cried; she was clearly dreading the next phase of the operation. Keith suddenly hugged her softly, which startled her and Isaac.  
"Try not to get hurt, Alex," Keith said quietly. "You have the key role here…and…I'm worried for you."  
"STARRRRRR!" a Staraptor flew onto the scene and waited for Keith to climb up onto it. Ryder gave Keith the Yellow Gem as he and Buizel hopped onto Staraptor's back.  
"Wh-what's this feeling…?" Keith asked quietly. "I'm, like, excited beyond words!" Nobody noticed Lavana, a Magmortar and two Dim Sun admin ladies exiting the tower.  
"It's probably just the adrenaline," Isaac assumed. The Magmortar charged towards Isaac and Alexa. Keith noticed and panicked.  
"Watch out!" he cried, tackling into Alexa and Isaac to push them out of the way.

**THUMP!**

WAAAAAAAAAH!

"Keith! No!" Alexa ran over to the edge of the tower in horror as she watched Keith, Buizel and Staraptor – having been hit by Magmortar's punch – flying across the horizon, unable to control their trajectory. Devastated, Alexa started to weep for her friend. Isaac walked over to her to try and comfort her. Lavana recovered the fallen Yellow Gem.  
"The Yellow Gem…we'll take this back, thank you very much," Lavana stated arrogantly. Alexa looked back at Lavana; she was furious, but her tears of devastation continued to fall down her face.  
"You-"

**RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!**

"Whoa!" Isaac panicked as the entire tower virtually shook. Lavana lookd around.  
"Huh? The Incredible Machine's turned on already?" she pondered. "Oh, yeah, it's designed to creep out to 100%, it'll get there at midnight."  
"LAVANA!"

**THUMP!**

Alexa tackled into Lavana, forcing her to the ground. There was a brief fight between the two, but Alexa ended up on top of Lavana, pinning her down. Lavana looked up at Alexa in slight fear as she noticed Alexa's emotions were running high.  
"For your sake, Keith had better still be alive!" Alexa threatened. "Because if he doesn't survive this, I swear I'll hunt you down, shave your head and sell the hair on eBay! Then I'll throw you into a bath of tar and toss you into a pile of Starly feathers!" she screamed.  
"Lavana!" the two female admins ran over to Lavana and they both kicked Alexa in her face to get her away from Lavana. Alexa was knocked back and the two admins helped Lavana onto her feet; Lavana had a bleeding lip and a black eye.  
"You two take care of this!" Lavana exclaimed angrily. She then left with her Magmortar.  
"Get back here!" Alexa cried as she attempted to give chase, but Isaac held her back.  
"Alex, please, calm down!" he pleaded. The two female admins set up a Miniremo unit each, but Ryder used Psychic to crush the two units rather than wasting another Aura Sphere on them. The two female admins fled. Alexa's styler received voicemail.

"Voicemail, I say, it's me, Hastings," Hastings began. "Alexa, why aren't you moving yet!?"  
"It…it's Keith!" Alexa – despite her anger having subsided – was still devastated regarding Keith's act. "He…he's been blown off the roof!" she cried.  
"We'll dispatch Rangers to search for him," Hastings began. "Alexa, you need to keep going!"  
"I don't know if I can!" she confessed, sounding entirely distraught. Ryder and Isaac faced her sadly.  
"You have to! But I have good news!" Hastings continued. "Vatona and Nage have completed a program that makes the impossible possible! It's designed to work with the small Tears of Princes pendants. Those stones were fitted into your styler, Alexa, if you recall."  
"What?! No I DON'T recall! How the bloody hell did they get in my styler!?" Alexa asked; the sudden news had shocked her completely.  
"We installed the stones into your styler while Keith was tending to your wounds from the Hippowdon Temple," Hastings replied quickly. "We'll send you the program now. It will transform your styler into the one and only Vatonage Styler."  
"Vatonage Styler?" Alexa asked shakily. She calmed down slightly, but her tears refused to cease falling down her face.  
"Alexa, there is an ancient word in Almia," Hastings continued. "The word means 'to rekindle the light that has sunk into the darkness and restore harmony to the world'. The word is Vatonage. It is a word barely remembered by those old men and women born in Almia. But now the ancient word is reborn as the name of your new Styler!"  
"Vatonage…" Alexa repeated the ancient word to herself, looking over in the direction where Keith was blown off.  
"Alright, Alexa, we will send you the program now," Hastings stated. "With it goes our kudos to all the Rangers for their courage!"  
Alexa's styler received, downloaded and installed the Incredible Program, upgrading her styler to the mentioned Vatonage Styler. She looked at it; although her styler had its new upgrade, Alexa looked at it sadly, as a tear fell onto it.  
"Keith…" Her sadness turned into determination as she looked up at the rest of Altru Tower. "I won't give up! The future of Almia's Pokémon – nay, everyone in Almia – depends on Operation Brighton! I swear it, I won't let your noble act be in vain! Isaac, let's do this for Keith!"  
"Alright! Let's go!" Isaac exclaimed eagerly. He, Alexa and Ryder ran into the tower.

_Inside…_

Alexa, Ryder and Isaac ran over to the stairs leading to the next floor.

**RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!**

THIS IS THE ALTRU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS 50%! REPEAT, 50%! POWER IS RISING STEADILY, THERE ARE NO ABNORMALITIES!

"Aw, no! We're running out of time!" Isaac panicked.  
"What do you mean?" Alexa asked.  
"The Incredible Machine has three power levels," Isaac began. "Once it reaches level two, it won't be long before it reaches level three, and that is when Almia will be in big trouble!"  
"We have to get Sven and Wendy to access the Shadow Crystal before that happens!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"Right! But we'll need to disable the barriers first," Isaac continued. "They're guarded by all three members of the Sinis Trio, Ice, Lavana and Heath. We'll need to destroy the circuit balls operating the barriers!"  
"Given Ryder's a battling Pokémon, he has enough strength to destroy them no problem!" Alexa stated.  
"Yes, but they're protected with a particular kind of programming," Isaac added. "If you can defeat the Sinis member guarding the circuit ball, I can disable the program. Then Ryder can destroy the ball."  
"What do you think, Ryder?" Alexa asked.  
_Solid! Let's hustle!_

_A little while later…_

Alexa, Isaac and Ryder entered a small room, with a large yellow ball standing on a platform at the far end of the room. Heath faced them; he still had his black eye. A hypnotised Rhyperior was standing behind him.  
"You again?! Even you bring Professor Isaac, the traitor," Heath said angrily.  
"Isaac's the traitor?! You and your bloody team deceived him, you cannot call that treachery!" Alexa scolded.  
"You two coming in here to turning off barrier system, you are? Breaking of the Circuit Ball is what you are wanting? No, cannot let you doing that! Allowing not so!" Heath quickly approached and punched Alexa in the face. She got knocked into the ground, and Isaac helped her to stand up, given her harsh treatment her knee had endured due to Alexa forgetting that it was injured. Alexa had a harsh-looking bruise just below her left eye.  
"We even now, yes? Rhyperior, get!" Heath commanded. The Rhyperior roared loudly. Alexa readied her styler.  
"Ryder, protect Isaac and get him to the Circuit Ball," she said quietly. "Once the program is disabled, destroy the circuit ball. Leave Rhyperior to me."  
"Be careful, Alex," Isaac cautioned with concern. Ryder escorted Isaac to the Circuit Ball, avoiding Heath, while Alexa's capture disc circled around the Rhyperior. Heath snuck around and quietly approached Alex while she was concentrating on Rhyperior. Ryder spotted this.  
_Alex, to your left!_ He exclaimed. Confused, Alexa looked to her left…

**WHACK!**

"Aaaaagh!" Heath punched Alexa across the face, forcing her to the ground. The Rhyperior stood there in a daze; the capture was actually a success. The Rhyperior left, but Heath didn't pay attention.  
"D'AAAAAAAAGH!" Heath stepped on Alexa's right knee – to be pedantic, on the cloth covering her cut. Isaac looked back at her in horror.  
"Alex!"  
"Never mind me, get the progra—AAHAAAAAAGH!" Heath stepped on the knee once again, this time, harder than last time. The cloth supposedly protecting the cut had become too bloodstained, causing the blood bleeding out of her cut to slowly drip down her leg. Heath's boot was worsening the cut underneath. Isaac hurriedly disabled the program, allowing Ryder to destroy it with an Aura Sphere. Heath watched the Circuit Ball's destruction with frustration.  
"What? Losing again and again?!" Heath moved away from Alexa. "Depressing me, losing is. Not worrying, the barrier is more important."  
"The barrier's already been destroyed…!" Alexa struggled to her feet; the cloth on her knee loosened and fell to the ground, revealing her worsened and continuously bleeding cut. She picked the bloodied piece of cloth up off the floor before getting back onto her feet. "Two more to go…!"

_On the second floor…_

THIS IS THE ALTRU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS 20%! REPEAT, 20%! POWER IS RISING STEADILY, THERE ARE NO AB…ABNORMALITIES!

"Uh oh, this isn't good," Isaac began. "The Incredible Machine is charging power faster than I expected!"  
"We need to speed this along, Isaac!" Alexa stated.  
"But…what about your knee? And your other injuries?" Isaac asked worriedly. "Are you willing to put yourself in such a predicament?"  
"I don't care!" Alexa angrily declared. "I'm doing this for Keith's sake! I'm not letting one drawback and a few complications get in my way of doing what's right! Isaac, there're more at stake than we realise! If this thing really IS a giant Gigaremo, it could command the Pokémon to attack civilians! I WON'T let that possibility see the light of day!"  
"Attack civilians…? Alright, Alexa, but be extremely careful," Isaac cautioned. "Operation Brighton needs you."

_Not long later…_

Alexa, Isaac and Ryder entered the small room containing the second Circuit Ball. This one was red. Lavana wasn't in sight, so Isaac and Ryder immediately ran over to the Circuit Ball, where Isaac succeeded in disabling the program. Ryder destroyed the Circuit Ball just as Lavana entered the room.  
"Wha…I'm too late?! I wanted to make a fashionable entrance!" Lavana fumed.  
"You did; you were fashionably late!" Alexa teased. "Anyway, what did you do with the Yellow Gem!?"  
"I don't have it, that thing's too heavy to carry around!" Lavana panicked, running out of the room, in search of her Magmortar.  
_It's not THAT heavy, woman!_ Ryder sighed.  
"That just leaves Ice's Circuit Ball," Isaac stated.

_Later…_

THIS IS THE ALTRU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS 10%! REPEAT, 10%! POWER IS RISING STEADILY, THERE ARE NO AB…ABNONORMAMAMAMAMA…ABNORMALITIES!

"The computer seems to be acting up, but we can't waste time! It's almost at level two!" Isaac exclaimed. He, Alexa and Ryder entered the room in front of them.

_Inside…_

"Hello, Top Ranger Alexa!" Ice greeted. "And hello to our computer teacher, the boy genius Isaac! Very soon, the date will change. Yes, a new era is dawning in Almia."  
"Yeah, the era of Team Dim Sun's demise!" Alexa stated angrily. "You call hypnotising an entire region of Pokémon a new era?! You call that a cause for celebration?! You're sick, twisted and foolish to think that causing Pokémon to suffer mentally is anything to be happy about!"  
"Gallade, the boss's present has just arrived," Ice began calmly. "Fetch her for me, won't you?"  
"He's STILL after me?!" Alexa exclaimed in horror. Alexa quickly fired her capture disc at the hypnotised Gallade. Ryder and Isaac snuck passed Ice and got to the Circuit Ball. Isaac started to disable the Circuit Ball's program, but he panicked; it was taking longer.  
"Oh, yes, I wasn't satisfied with the simple programming you taught us, Isaac," Ice began, watching Alexa attempting to avoid Gallade's attacks with difficulty. "So I studied like there was no tomorrow. This isn't your average computer programming."  
"Gallade, stop bloody attacking me, dammit!" Alexa fumed, struggling to control her capture disc.  
"Hold on, Alex, just a little bit longer…!" Isaac stated shakily.  
"Whaa!" Alexa narrowly avoided Gallade's psychic blade manoeuvre, which aimed for her bleeding knee. "Let's hope I don't get amputated first!" she panicked.  
"I can't seem to crack it completely! Ryder, try it anyway!" Isaac exclaimed. Ice watched with a smirk as Ryder's Aura Sphere struck the Circuit Ball. However, it failed to destroy the sphere; Ryder fell into a sitting position, panting.  
"Oh, no! Ryder's exhausted!" Alexa exclaimed. "He needs time to rest before he can attack again!" Having successfully captured and released Gallade, Alexa scurried over to her exhausted partner.  
_I just need…to catch my breath…_ Ryder panted. Heath and Lavana entered the room; both still had the injuries Alexa gave them both.  
"We fail at orders from Boss," Heath stated.  
"I'm back from putting my makeup on; Miss Limp-a-lot over there ruined my complexion!" Lavana huffed.  
"Aw, but black is so your colour!" Alexa taunted.  
"Your booby trap programs were junk," Ice began with annoyance. "They had amateur written all over them! Thanks to you, Alexa and Isaac are here! Lend me your Pokémon; moaning about your failures won't get the job done." Rhyperior, Magmortar and Gallade – all back under hypnosis – entered and ganged up on Alexa.

"All three of them at once?!" Alexa panicked. She readied her styler, but now she was not so confident; not only did she need to protect Isaac, but Ryder as well due to his inability to attack efficiently in addition to being cautious about her own injuries. "This is going to be one tough session…!"

_To be continued…_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen - Operation Brighton! The Finale!**

Alexa stood in front of Isaac – who was still attempting to disable the blue Circuit Ball's programming – and Ryder – who had become exhausted and had temporarily become unable to attack efficiently. She was confronting Rhyperior, Magmortar and Gallade, who were all back under hypnosis. She was panicking due to the fact that she was now aware of how injured she truly was, having noticed how the blood from the cut on her knee was slowly dripping down her right leg. She also noticed that her leg had become bloodstained, since she neglected her knee injury.  
"Not so confident now, are you, Alexa?" Ice asked tauntingly. "Why don't you just surrender and I'll take you to the boss? I'm sure he'll treat you right."  
_No, Alex…please don't do what he says,_ Ryder pleaded. _There must be a way to get through this!_  
"Don't worry, Ryder; just because I'm not entirely confident, it doesn't mean I won't try to succeed anyway," Alexa promised. "Capture on!" she fired her capture disc from her styler.  
"You fool to try again," Heath mocked.  
"You can't handle three Pokémon at once, your dear friend Keith always helped you!" Lavana laughed. Alexa became angry.  
"Lavana, I hope you're ready to part with your hair because if you make fun of Keith one more time, you will never see it again!" Alexa threatened.  
Despite her injuries, Alexa masterfully controlled her capture disc, perfectly dodging any and all of the attacks Rhyperior, Magmortar and Gallade tried to throw at the small spinning top.  
"Almost got it…!" Isaac said to himself. "Hang in there, Alex, you're giving me plenty of time!"  
Alexa successfully captured Gallade first. Rhyperior and Magmortar were the only ones left. Ryder watched Alexa in awe.  
_Wow…Alex has improved so much. She's become more skilled, and her personality has changed for the better._ Ryder smiled warmly behind Alex's back. _If I were a human, or if she were a Lucario, I'd be so proud to call her my sister…_  
Rhyperior and Magmortar were both befriended and redeemed at the exact same time. Alexa was now exhausted from controlling her capture disc so masterfully due to the pressure she was under. Her injured knee gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground as a result.

"Our boss! On the top roof, he is!" Heath panicked. "Protecting him, we must be doing!" Heath fled from the room.  
"I'm too ashamed to show myself in front of the boss!" Lavana panicked. "Not after getting defeated by this brat of a Ranger!" she fled along with Heath.  
"Spineless losers. That was only for show, just to while away some time," Ice said to himself. "Unless they can crack the trap program, they're stuck here."  
"Got it!" Isaac rejoiced.  
"Wha…Isaac…cracked the program?! Having him as the enemy is terrifying after all! Here, take the Yellow Gem! Just take it and go!" Ice fled, abandoning the Yellow Gem. Ryder, now over his exhaustion, collected the Yellow Gem.  
"Yeah, we did it, Isaac, we've trounced the Sinis Trio!" Alexa rejoiced as she struggled to stand back up.  
"Yeah! Now Ryder can destroy the Circuit Ball!" Isaac added. Ryder held out his right paw as an Aura Sphere formed in front of it.  
_You'd better step back, Alex._ Ryder fired the Aura Sphere. This time, it destroyed the Circuit Ball.

**BOOM!**

"Aaagh!" a small explosion from the computer terminal hit Alexa and pushed her onto the floor again. Isaac helped her onto her feet; her left thigh had a small burn.  
"Are you alright?" he asked. "I never expected Ice to have mastered such a sophisticated programming."  
"It's alright, I'll be fine," Alexa replied breathlessly. "I'm worried about Keith, though…I hope he's alright…" Alexa's styler received a voicemail transmission.  
"Voicemail, it's Sven here," Sven began. "Nice job on deactivating the barriers, Alexa and Isaac."  
"Now we can get close to the Shadow Crystal. Thanks!" Wendy thanked.  
"This is Hastings! Sven, Wendy, get as close as possible to the Shadow Crystal," Hastings instructed. "Alexa, get to the top of the tower pronto and meet up with Sven and Wendy! You're doing masterfully! Incidentally, are you alright?"  
"I'm getting my ass knocked about, but that won't stop me!" Alexa stated confidently. "My right knee's worse and I've just got a burn on my thigh, but I'll keep going for Keith's sake, regardless of whether he's dead or alive!"  
"Although we're hoping he's alive," Hastings said calmly. "Be careful, Alexa, do not get cocky!"  
"Sorry, cocky isn't in my nature," Alexa said playfully. She hung up and – along with Isaac and Ryder – left the room.

THIS IS THE ALTRURURURURURU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S LEVEL HAS HIT 2! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 3 IS 99% MORE! 97% MORE! 96% MORE! GZZZZBBBBBWWWEEEEEEZZZZZZT!

Alexa, Isaac and Ryder panicked as they felt the Incredible Machine's power – at level two – spreading far and wide.  
"Oh no! Now the Incredible Machine will have no problems getting to level three!" Alexa panicked. "Even WITH the abnormalities flooding the system!"  
"President Hall's going to get his way if we don't hurry!" Isaac exclaimed. "He's at the top of the tower!" He, Alexa and Ryder – still with the Yellow Gem in his hands – exited the floor.

_The penultimate floor before the roof…_

Alexa, Isaac and Ryder came across a control panel and an electrified floor between the two sets of staircases leading up to the roof. Isaac got close to the control panel and started disabling it.  
"This has probably been programmed by Ice too," he assumed. "Don't worry, I can crack it." He soon succeeds in disabling the program, disabling the electrified floor.  
"Alright, Isaac!" Alexa exclaimed in awe.  
"That ought to do it. Now, let's get to the roof!" Isaac suggested. He was about to leave the panel when…

_FYOOP!_

"No! It's a time-lapse trap from before!" Isaac stressed, now trapped within the small cubicle. A set of lasers had appeared across the gap, trapping Isaac inside. "I should've known. Sorry, Alex, this is as far as I go."  
"D-don't worry, Isaac…I can take it from here," Alexa said nervously.  
"Alex, I want to thank you for believing in me while I was with the bad guys," Isaac thanked. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier; I've realised that you probably can understand how I felt at the Union, so my scolding was uncalled for. But you mustn't hang around! It'll soon be midnight, and Blake Hall must be stopped! You're powerful enough to tackle this on your own!"  
"Isaac…"  
"No, wait, you're not alone! You have friends behind you on this, Alex!" Isaac corrected himself optimistically. His words startled Alexa and made her appear emotional; this was the first time she's had real human friends supporting her for so long. "Now, go! Blake's waiting at the top of the tower, but go when you're ready! I'll try to break out on my own, but in the meantime, good luck!"  
"Thanks, Isaac…" Alexa managed to hold back her tears and faced Ryder with determination. "Let's go show Blake Hall what we're made of!"  
_Oh, yeah, I can't wait to show him a piece of my mind!_ Ryder appeared to be eager to confront Blake.

_On the roof…_

Ryder was the first to reach the top of the tower, while Alexa struggled to walk up the steps due to her knee injury. The two of them felt shockwaves from the Incredible Machine's power.

_In the Operations Room at the Union…_

"The Incredible Machine's power has hit level three!" Rhythmi exclaimed.  
"Its effect is even spreading to Pokémon in the Haruba Desert and Hia Valley!" Marcus added in horror.  
"I'm getting a flood of reports of Pokémon going out of control all over Almia!" Linda exclaimed in shock. She then confronted Erma and Hastings. "Please, let me go to the operation site! I want to help our Top Rangers!"  
"No! I absolutely forbid that!" Hastings denied. "Operators must remain here to collect information and inform the Rangers! That's an extremely important role in Operation Brighton!"  
"Things will be fine, Linda," Erma began. "You must have faith in our young Top Rangers."  
"Alexa, Keith…hang in there," Rhythmi said to herself worriedly.

_On top of Altru Tower…_

Alexa and Ryder – despite their respective injuries – confronted Blake, Wheeler and Heath.  
"Ah, welcome," Blake began.  
"Put your bloody business cards away and tell me why you've been ordering your underlings to kidnap me!" Alexa fumed angrily.  
"All in good time. I understand this has been named Operation Brighton?" Blake questioned. "Brighton…my father's name."  
"It's a coincidence, and nothing more!" Alexa stated.  
"Though that may be the case, I will consider it a family honour. It's also an honour to see someone – especially one as young as yourself, my dear Alexa – go through so much just to see me. Though, personally, I would have allowed myself to be escorted here to keep myself unharmed."  
"Yeah, well, here's the thing; you're not me!" Alexa shouted. "I don't fully understand what purpose having me as a hostage would do for you, nor do I care! I just want to stop you from causing suffering for everyone in Almia! Blake Hall, this is where your saga comes to an end!"  
"Unfortunately, my dear, you're a smidgeon too late," Blake sighed. "The Incredible Machine has hit full power, bringing all of the Pokémon in Almia under my full and complete control. Pokémon are just to be used by us humans to command, Alexa. I can have them mining, moving cargo, supply heat and electrical energy, or even have them as soldiers to fend off outsiders. That's right, Alexa! This is the dream-energy machine fuelled by Pokémon! Wouldn't you agree the description is a fitting one?"  
Alexa was horrified, enraged and speechless beyond words; never before had she heard anything of that nature before. Her horror subsided and became uncontrollable anger.  
"Pokémon slave labour is the dream energy you spoke of in Altru Park!?" she interrogated. "I can't believe you view Pokémon so loosely!"

"What seems to be the problem with using Pokémon to do your bidding?" Blake asked. "You yourself have done the very same thing. You're a Pokémon Trainer, or so I've heard."  
"Yes, I am a Pokémon Trainer, but unlike you, I care about the Pokémon I've raised!" Alexa began; Blake's words had offended her entirely. "How dare you call Pokémon Trainers people who enslave Pokémon into doing battle for them! I don't force my Pokémon into doing anything unlawful, and they know that!"  
_Damn straight! We do the battling, but Alex guides us, and we trust her judgement!_ Ryder added in corroboration. Sven and Wendy were seen in the background, flying overhead. They watched as Alexa was forced to deliver a lecture like she never delivered before. Tears were streaming down her face.  
"Pokémon are not tools, they're living beings with their own natures, personalities and feelings! It's true, Pokémon Trainers fight with their Pokémon, but it is the trainer's responsibility to take good care of their Pokémon, even if the Pokémon are not fighting! And even in battle, it isn't the trainer telling the Pokémon what to do, it's the trainer and the Pokémon working in harmony with each other to overcome the opposition! Pokémon are supposed to be our friends, yet what you're describing is merely using their incredible and unique abilities for your own twisted and demented desires that you believe is beneficial to the people of Almia! For the years I have travelled around with Pokémon, I have had to endure these sorts of views and false beliefs about Pokémon and how they should be treated! But never in my whole life have I heard of anything so cruel and heartless! Though, despite everything I've witnessed, NOTHING can match up to how sick and thoughtless your desires are, Blake Hall! Pokémon and humans are supposed to be living side by side in harmony! Neither species should be even attempting to dominate over the other! Your attempt to force Pokémon into becoming mindless drones for slave labour is unforgivable, and my partner Pokémon and I will both ensure that you never get away with your evil plans!"  
Sven and Wendy were moved by Alexa's lecture; her heart-filled shouting had reached even the skies above the tower. Wendy was almost moved to tears.  
"Child, your words are wasted on Mr Hall," Wheeler began, stepping in front of Blake. "Perhaps you'd like a snack? Would you like a knuckle sandwich? Or Chop Suey? Or maybe-"  
"SHUT UP!"

**THUMP!**

Alexa punched Wheeler with her left arm, causing Wheeler to be knocked over to his left hand side. Alexa quickly recoiled her left arm; she shouldn't have punched too hard. Ryder ran over to her with concern about him.  
"Perhaps the power of the Incredible Machine is too much for you to understand," Blake began casually. "But everyone will accept it when the new era dawns. The date will soon change, and Altru will celebrate its birthday."  
"That reminds me, when you said we can get better acquainted," Alexa began, looking up at him. "Does its meaning have something to do with Wheeler and who knows how many other minions of yours trying to kidnap me?" Ryder faced her in shock.  
"Why, yes it does," Blake confirmed, walking over to a small crystal ball behind him. "I had plans for you, Alexa. Ever since I laid eyes on you in the Altru Building, I knew you were perfect."  
"For what, though?" Alexa asked, somewhat interrogatively.  
"For being my own personal little treasure," Blake replied. "You see, the Pokémon Rangers have certainly put up an admirable performance in resisting me; I'm impressed. So, I've made a decision; once I've established the Incredible Machine's full power, I'd claim a souvenir, if you know what I mean."  
"What!?" Alexa was horrified; she understood what Blake was implying by what he had revealed.  
"Now, Alexa, it is time for you to become my treasure!" Blake rested his hands on the crystal ball. "But which Pokémon should I use? This will allow me to summon any Pokémon, whether it's a lone Pokémon or a hoard of them, I can summon what I desire. Gigaremo? Miniremo? Not with the Incredible Machine! Ah! I've found the perfect Pokémon in the Haruba Desert!" He faced Alexa and Ryder again; both of them looked furious. "The development of this enormous machine took exceptional cost and effort. The project only took off when we placed Kincaid as a teacher in Ranger School. He succeeded in recruiting a genius what appears once a century."  
"That may have been the case, but why did you attempt to kidnap my Lucario?!" Alexa asked angrily. Ryder faced her in astonishment.  
_Oh yeah! I forgot all about how I came to be here to begin with!_ Ryder exclaimed.  
"Ah, yes," Blake began. "The kidnapping of your Lucario is insignificant compared to what my Incredible Machine will bring."  
A Dusknoir suddenly floated down from the skies, ending up in front of Blake. Blake smiled.  
"Ah, here's the Pokémon from the Haruba Desert!" he exclaimed. "Dusknoir, this Ranger is here to join in the celebrations. Do me the favour of bringing her to me." Dusknoir slowly floated towards Alexa.  
_Stay back, you vile creature!_ Ryder surrounded himself in his bodily aura and fired two beams of purple rings – Dark Pulse – at the hypnotised Ghost Pokémon. _Alex?_

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc at the Dusknoir. Because Dark Pulse had hit it twice and had weakened it, the Dusknoir was easily captured, befriended and released.  
"Very impressive, my dear. Truly, your reputation has been surpassed," Blake complimented. "But don't think you have won. Don't you understand? I have already won. Once I have you in my possession, everything I have hoped to achieve from my plans will be realised."  
"Oh yeah? You think you've won?" Alexa smirked. "Ryder, be a sweetie pie and show our humbled host what we've picked up along the way."  
_It'll be my pleasure._ Ryder revealed the Yellow Gem as it glowed brightly. _Ta da! Not so tough now, are you, Blake?!_  
"Um… We are meaning to report earlier," Heath began nervously. "But we three fail at protecting it. We figured you not forgiving us, but, sir, Boss, you having that Pokémon already, so okay, I am hoping…"  
"Pokémon? Wait! Are you telling me you've captured Darkrai!?" Alexa exclaimed in horror. Ryder looked up at her with the same horrified demeanour as his trainer.  
"You oaf! It was crucial to keep the three gems apart!" Blake fumed. "We only needed to retain just one of them! One! And you expect that Pokémon to cover for your mistakes!?" Alexa was regretting what she was about to say.  
"Don't tell me you're showing disrespect to your human minions as well?! What kind of heartless monster are you?! I've crossed paths with another heartless person, but at least HE had a certain respect for his employees!"  
"Silence, Alexa! I have no need for underlings! With the Incredible Machine, all of Almia's Pokémon are my underlings!"  
"NOT A CHANCE!" Sven shouted. Blake, Wheeler and Heath looked up at the sky in horror, while Alexa and Ryder looked up happily.

"Hall! We can hear your raving even up here! Alexa, get yourself ready! We'll put the finishing touches to Operation Brighton!" Sven yelled.  
"The three gems have to be close to the Shadow Crystal! Alexa, get the Yellow Gem as close as possible to it!" Wendy called. She and Sven revealed the Red and Blue gems respectively.  
"This is it, folks!" Sven declared.  
"Staraptor, we're going in!" Wendy exclaimed.  
"You think you've won!? You're forcing me to do this! I will call upon that Pokémon!" Blake yelled angrily. He walked over to the crystal ball behind him and touched it again. "Ah, what luck! Midnight has arrived!"  
"What?! Oh, no, we've been wasting too much time!" Alexa stressed. "If we don't act quickly, Ryder, Almia's doomed!"  
_And if that happens, then WE'RE doomed!_ Ryder added fearfully.  
"Arise, my Darkrai!" Blake commanded. Alexa was left horrified and in despair; she had almost lost all hope.

"A Pokémon that stores the power of darkness in its body…Darkrai…the bringer of nightmares…" Alexa whimpered fearfully.  
"That's right, Alexa," Blake confirmed. "It is the most beloved of all my Pokémon."  
A dark portal revealed itself on the floor in front of Blake. It expanded, nearly covering the whole area, and the hypnotised Darkrai was revealed from within its darkness. Alexa was horrified and scared all at once. Ryder snarled, ready to fight.  
"Alexa! If you are not willing to give yourself up to me, then you are meaningless to me! Darkrai, invite this hero-fixated child into your world of darkness!"  
Darkrai hovered over to Alexa and she stepped back in fear. Darkrai opened up its dark void underneath her and started to pull her and Ryder into it. Both Alexa and Ryder were unable to resist, causing them to flail as they were being sucked in.  
"Alexa! Go into the world of darkness!" Blake shouted. Wheeler laughed happily, yet quietly. Darkrai continued to pull Alexa and Ryder in.  
"Ryder! I've failed everyone!" Alexa cried. "I've let them all down! I'm so sorry! Keith!"

**ALEX!**

"STARRRRRR!" A Staraptor quickly flew passed the duo in distress, pulling them out of the void just before it disappeared. Alexa and Ryder landed safely on the ground, as the Staraptor that saved them hovered down to their level. Alexa and Ryder were ecstatic beyond words to see the one riding Staraptor.  
"Keith! You're alive!" Alexa cried.  
_Buizel! Thank Arceus you're safe, my friend!_ Ryder exclaimed with relief. Both he and Alexa had joyful tears in their eyes.  
"You bet we are!" Keith replied happily. "That attack knocked us to the Lookout Ridge! But we can talk about that later! Alex, let me have the Yellow Gem!"  
Ryder gave Keith the Yellow Gem as he and Alexa approached him. Keith faced Alexa, smiling warmly.  
"I can tell you've suffered some more, Alex, but at least I'm here to help you if you need it," he said kindly. "I'll join Sven and Wendy now. Alex, let's be safe, both of us!"  
"Because we're both as important as each other in this operation," Alexa added, somewhat tearfully. Tears developed in Keith's eyes, despite his warm smile.  
"Exactly!" he agreed. The Staraptor flew up into the sky, and Alexa and Ryder watched him go with extreme joy and relief.

"Blasted Rangers," Blake jeered. "I will have to increase the Incredible Machine's power to the forbidden level…Level Dark!"  
"What?!" Alexa and Ryder were equally horrified. Even Heath and Wheeler were horrified.  
They witnessed the dramatic change with the Incredible Machine. Darkrai appeared to be suffering even more than before as the Incredible Machine's power came close to overloading with the new power level. Blake stepped in front of Darkrai and faced the horrified Alexa and Ryder.  
"This is it! The forbidden level of power known only by the infinity that is darkness itself!" he declared. "My Darkrai, your age has come! But you must first swat down the annoying pests flying overhead!"  
"Darkrai, no! Blake, how could you do such a thing?!" Alexa exclaimed. The Darkrai created a dark void underneath it. It quickly dragged Wheeler into the void.  
"Aagh! M-Mr President! Help me!" Wheeler cried as the dark void swallowed him whole. Alexa, Ryder, Heath and even Blake were horrified at the sudden development. The crystal ball behind Darkrai shattered into pieces.  
"Th-the ball! Blake, don't you understand what you've done?!" Alexa asked in horror. "By making the Incredible Machine reach Level Dark, you have lost control of Darkrai altogether! It's no longer following your orders, its too corrupted!"  
"No more! I no want this anymore! I going home to the country!" Heath panicked, fleeing from the tower.  
"Lost control over Darkrai? Ridiculous!" Blake scolded. "Darkrai is mine to command!"  
"If you still think Darkrai's obeying you, just turn around!" Alexa screamed. Blake did so, and found Darkrai attempting to pull Blake into the dark void.

"Darkrai?! What is the meaning of this?! The Ranger is that way!" Blake flailed as he was pulled into the void. "Alexa!" Blake was engulfed by the darkness and the dark void vanished; Alexa and Ryder were left alone to deal with the corrupted Darkrai.

_In the sky…_

"Darkness! It's spreading all over the tower!" Sven shouted.  
"I can't see the Shadow Crystal anymore! Darkrai, Alexa, Ryder and everyone else is in that darkness!" Wendy cried.

"Alex! Can you hear me?!" Keith called out at the top of his voice. "What's happening down there?!"

_Down on the roof of the tower…_

Alexa and Ryder looked upon the idle corrupted Darkrai with fear running through their bodies. Alexa was breathing heavily in an attempt to calm herself down, but Ryder just froze and didn't move an inch; he didn't even blink.  
"Ryder…we're on our own for this…" Alexa fearfully stated. "There's no turning back, and we can't get help!"  
_What do we do?!_ Ryder asked with fright.  
"Capture on!" Alexa desperately fired her capture disc at the Darkrai. Despite how accurate her control was, the capture disc failed to even affect Darkrai. Darkrai fired a large sphere of energy.

**CRASH!**

WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Alexa and Ryder were both critically hit and cried out in extreme agony as the large attack inflicted severe damage to the pair, not only worsening their current injuries, but also creating new ones entirely.

Their agonised cries echoed to even the skies around the tower. Upon hearing such cries, Sven, Wendy and Keith were horrified and devastated.  
"Alex, no!" Keith cried in devastation.  
"Bui!" Buizel exclaimed in horror.  
"What the hell happened?! Did…did Darkrai attack them?!" Sven asked in horror.  
"It must have done! Both Alexa and Ryder cried out in pain!" Wendy panicked. "But what did Darkrai do?!"  
"I'm not sure if Alex could survive that!" Keith cried. "She's too badly hurt! I'm not sure how much longer she can cope, we should help her!"

_On the tower roof…_

Alexa and Ryder lay on the ground, with their consciousness barely maintained. They both struggled greatly just to move, let alone attempt to stand back up.  
"Damn…Focus Blast," Alexa hissed quietly, almost in a whisper. "We…we can't…give up…Ryder…"  
_I…I know…but…how can we…keep going if…the styler…won't affect it?_ Ryder asked breathlessly.  
"Vatonage…we have to…to remember…that word…" Alexa strained. She somehow managed to stand up onto her feet. "We can't give up…we just…can't…" Alexa looked up at the darkness above her, tears falling down her face. "We can't…" She took as deep a breath as she possibly could.

"WE WON'T GIVE UP, GUYS!"

Alexa's loud noble words echoed through the darkness as Sven, Wendy and Keith were ecstatic to hear her voice.  
"Alex! She's alive!" Keith cried joyfully. His held back tears fell down his face, but he was overjoyed to hear his best friend's voice.  
"And Ryder too, from the sound of things!" Wendy added happily.  
"She's one tough cookie," Sven sighed with relief. The three gems suddenly started to glow. "Whoa!"  
"This light…it's the same as the pendants," Wendy commented.  
"It's as though…they're searching for something," Keith added. The beams of light circled around before finally descending into the darkness below.

"Wh-what the…?!" Alexa and Ryder watched in shock as the three beams of light reacted with the three gems inside her styler. The lights were absorbed into the styler as it regained full energy. Her capture disc shone brightly with the three colours of the shards in her styler, which had been temporarily infused with the power of the three Gems.  
_Alex, your styler!_  
"It's as if the three coloured gems are supporting us."  
_So they loaned us their power._  
"We can win now!" Alexa and Ryder ran – as best they can – over to the enraged Darkrai.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her powered up capture disc at the Darkrai. Ryder, summoning up what energy he has left, surrounded himself with his bodily aura and fired a powered up Aura Sphere at the capture disc. Its power doubled initially, however, but the power of the three gems caused Ryder's Pokémon Assist ability to quadruple in power. Ryder stepped in front of Alexa and held onto her right arm, supporting her and assisting her with controlling her capture disc.  
_Alex, you said trainer and Pokémon work together to overcome the opponent,_ Ryder smiled. _Let's work together on this._  
"Yes, let's. We were all in this together from the beginning," Alexa smiled in return. "And it will end that way too."  
With help of each other, Alexa and Ryder both controlled the capture disc together. Teamwork and trust in each other's judgement were what was preventing the capture disc from taking any damage. If Ryder's Pokémon Assist ability faded away, Ryder instantly fired another Aura Sphere to start the ability up again. With their combined effort, Darkrai had become successfully befriended.

As the darkness around the tower faded, Alexa recalled her capture disc. She and Ryder collapsed onto their knees with exhaustion; they used up more energy than they had anticipated. Darkrai, however, was no longer suffering, and remained idle.  
"The darkness has lifted!" Sven declared.  
"We can get close to the Shadow Crystal now!" Wendy exclaimed.  
"Alex, Ryder, you did it!" Keith praised. "Operation Brighton is on again!"

Keith, Sven and Wendy flew down towards the Shadow Crystal, holding the Yellow, Blue and Red gems respectively. The Shadow Crystal soon became neutralised and transformed into a completely transparent gem. Alexa and Ryder watched with amazement and joy as they saw Operation Brighton coming to a well-rewarding end.

Darkrai willingly brought Blake Hall and Wheeler back from the dark world. Neither Alexa nor Ryder were angry upon seeing the former antagonists.  
"Is this…I'm alive?" Wheeler asked.  
"Yes…" Alexa answered breathlessly. Wheeler and Blake faced her in confusion and are shocked to see how weak Alexa and Ryder appeared to be.  
"You saved us?" Blake questioned.  
"No…Ryder and I only brought Darkrai back to its senses," Alexa continued.  
_Darkrai…Darkrai was the one…who brought you back,_ Ryder said weakly.  
"Alexa!" Barlow ran over to Alex while Professor Hastings made his way up to Blake. "Are you alright?! What happened to you?!"  
"Focus Blast," Alexa responded. "It's a powerful Fighting type attack…Darkrai used it when it lost all control…of itself…"  
"It seems you have awoken from your nightmare, Blake Hall," Hastings began. "What you witnessed was nothing more than a nightmare. And now you have awoken from your long nightmare."  
"Nightmare?" Blake asked.  
"I have something I must return to you," Hastings continued. He revealed the green book found during Alexa's mission in Chroma Ruins. "Your father, Brighton Hall's diary. It was because of this, we were able to carry out Operation Brighton."  
"So that's why you used his name…"  
"Indeed. However," Hastings continued, looking at the severely injured Alexa with a smile. "It was because of Alexa that we were able to have the diary in our possession to begin with."  
"Alexa?" Blake looked over at the feeble girl; Barlow was helping Alexa get back onto her own feet.

"It was because of her we were able to put the pieces together for Operation Brighton," Hastings added with pride. "And it was her finding the diary that allowed us to discover that your father had promised to save you. Is that not so, Wyatt Hall?"  
"Wyatt?" Alexa asked towards Hastings.  
"My real name," Blake replied. "I founded Team Dim Sun when the small shards of the Shadow Crystal were discovered. But that alone wasn't enough. The Rangers gathered the three gems and eluded my father. And those three gems awakened me from my nightmare. Operation Brighton…my father finally got his wish to save me today…"  
"Blake…no, Wyatt…when things settle down, you are due for questioning regarding your criminal past," Barlow began. "Escorts from the Union are waiting for you at the bottom of the Altru Building. Can you walk out on your own?"  
"You…you're letting me walk out of here on my own to meet the escorts?" Blake asked. "Thank you. I am grateful for your kindness." He approached Alexa before leaving the roof. "Alexa…"  
"Yes?" Alexa asked.  
"I am truly sorry to you for everything I said to offend you," Blake began. "Truth be told, my father told me of your grandfather."  
"My grandpa?" Alexa asked in shock.  
"Yes," Blake nodded. "He has told me he has a granddaughter who is an extremely powerful Pokémon Trainer. I insulted you knowing this fact. I apologise for what I said to you."  
"It okay. Now that I know you weren't truly yourself," Alexa began. "I can't hold a grudge against you." Blake took her right hand gently.  
"My father was right," he continued. "You are an extremely powerful Pokémon Trainer…to have such a strong feeling about her Pokémon – no, to have such a noble perspective of all Pokémon everywhere. You are to be admired for that." Blake gently released her hand and walked passed her. Alexa watched him leave in confusion.  
"Wyatt!" Alexa called. Blake looked back at Alexa in confusion. She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you." Blake smiled at her before he left the roof.

"Alexa! We've rescued Isaac from captivity," Barlow began happily. "No need to worry about him. But, boy, without his help, this operation wouldn't have been a success." Barlow then made his leave.

ALEX!

As Barlow made his leave, Sven, Wendy and Keith ran over to Alexa and Professor Hastings. Alexa immediately ran over to Keith and the two of them hugged and held onto one another closely.  
"You did it, Alex!" Keith cheered. "I knew you could do it!"  
"No, Keith. It's not just me," Alexa began. "Everyone who was a part of this all made it possible."  
"The Rangers, the Union staff, Isaac and everyone who provided us with information. All of you who love Pokémon made this victory possible," Hastings stated happily. "It was your intelligence, courage and passion that solved the biggest crisis in Almia's history. You have all gone beyond your call of duty. This day has been transformed from Altru's birthday to one of celebration for all Almia. That's it for Operation Brighton. Mission Clear!"  
With those closing remarks, Sven and Wendy carried out their traditional and trademark poses; Sven leapt and performed a backward roll, while Wendy spun around on the spot. Keith and Alexa, however, stayed in their hug.  
"Incidentally, what has become of the three gems?" Hastings asked. Alexa looked towards where the Shadow Crystal once stood.  
"Look!" Keith, Sven, Wendy, Ryder, Buizel and Professor Hastings looked over at the Luminous Crystal. The gems continued to circle around it, giving off a warm light.

_Later, in Altru Park…_

The Go-Rock Quads – Billy, Garret, Clyde and Tiffany – were all reciting a harmonious and upbeat tune that entertained the crowd beneath the stage. Alexa, Keith, Rhythmi, Isaac and Melody were all at the back, away from the crowd, listening to the band. Both Alexa and Ryder had new and extra bandages on various parts of their bodies. Crawford, Luana and Barlow – with a Doduo behind him – ran over to them.  
"Yeah, the Go-Rock Quads rule!" Barlow said happily. "They're perfect for celebrating Almia's new Memorial Day!"  
"Barlow, thank you for rescuing me," Isaac thanked. "The way you shouted Target Clear and punched out the beam generator…its simplicity made it cool!"  
"My big brother says he's taking a holiday today," Melody began cheerfully. "He said he would play with me all day!"  
"That's great. I'm glad for you, Melody…" Barlow trailed off; the happiness was overwhelming him.  
"Uh-oh, Barlow's sprung a leak!" Rhythmi laughed. "In spite of his looks, he's famous around the Union for crying easily." She looked over at Alex, and suddenly became confused. "Alexa? Are you alright?"  
"Hm?" Alexa looked over at Rhythmi; she still maintained her warm smile, despite joyful tears that fell down her face. She wiped her eyes. "Y-yeah…I'm just really happy for Isaac and Melody as well."  
"Hey, Alex…remember the day we met?" Keith asked. Alexa looked up at him in confusion.  
"When the Bidoof got away from Janice and you beat me in how many Bidoof we rounded up?" she asked.  
"Yeah. But since then, though, you were the one having to bail me out," Keith continued. "That's what makes me so glad I got to help keep you from the darkness. It's like I finally got to pay you back for all the help you've given me."  
"People give help and are helped," Barlow prophesised. "That goes for Pokémon too; everyone lives by helping each other. Don't think of it as what you owe to others or what you are owed. By the way, this song…about how the king of Almia fell into the embrace of darkness? And how the princes in red, blue and yellow drew together? It's just like the storybook my grandma used to read me when I was a kid."  
"Yeah…I wouldn't be surprised if the said tale becomes alive again because of Operation Brighton," Alexa said peacefully.  
"Alexa, you look ready to fall asleep," Barlow stated. "I know you've pulled an all-nighter, but I have a mission for you."  
"Mission?" Alex questioned. Keith smiled; he knew what was up, but said nothing.  
"Go to Chicole Village." Barlow explained.  
"That's it?" Alexa asked.  
"This is your final mission from me," Barlow said, giving Alexa control over the Doduo. She and Ryder hopped onto the Doduo's back and the Doduo ran off.  
"Keith…you know what's going on, don't you?" Rhythmi asked. Keith watched the Doduo leaving the park, smiling.  
"It's best not to spoil anything," Keith replied. "All I can say is…Alex will love it. Come on."

_After a short while…_

The Doduo Alexa and Ryder were riding on walked through Vientown, where its residents were all lined up on either side of the path, as if to parade for Alexa's triumph. Elaine, Ollie, Big Bertha and Little Tim were all included. Doduo headed towards Chicole Village.

_In Chicole Village…_

The Doduo stopped outside the two houses at the far end of the village. Alexa and Ryder carefully dismounted as the Doduo leaves the two.  
"Alex!" An orange/brunette haired boy – all too familiar to Alexa – ran over to her and hugged her suddenly. Alexa looked down at the boy in shock.  
"Hey, bro! What're you doing here?!" she asked happily, hugging the boy.  
"We were asked to come down here," a familiar feminine voice replied. Alexa looked in front of her; she saw a blonde-brunette haired woman in a pink dress and a brunette haired man in a cream-coloured suit standing in front of the empty-looking house. Alexa stood up straight and looked over at the two people, feeling emotional. Ryder was left utterly bewildered.  
"We were told that you saved the day, Alex!" Alexa's brother said excitedly. "They said you're the hero who saved Almia! That's awesome!"  
"As soon as we heard the news, we just had to come down here to wait for you," the woman added. "Breakfast has been prepared for you in our new holiday house, right next to us. After breakfast, you should get some sleep in the nice bed upstairs."  
"Mum…" Alexa tried not to cry, but the tears falling down her face made it obvious that she had the urge to. The man approached Alexa and rested his right hand on her left shoulder.  
"Well done, Alexa," he began softly. "In spite of the all the adversity you faced, you refused to give up and showed everyone how strong a person you really are. I am so proud of you."  
"Dad…!" Alexa could no longer resist the urge to cry, so she ran into her father's arms and wept loudly. Her father held onto her softly. Her mother and her brother walked over to them and formed a group hug.  
Ryder looked around in confusion, suspecting something was up. He looked behind him and found Keith, Barlow, Crawford, Luana and Rhythmi watching the family reunion from afar; the warm atmosphere the reunion presented touched all of them. Ryder knew to keep their presence a secret from Alexa, so he watched the reunion with a warm smile.

"You know…Alex sure has a nice family," Crawford began. "I'm glad she got to see them after Operation Brighton."  
"I couldn't agree more," Barlow corroborated. "They really love that girl."  
"And she loves them," Luana added, almost moved to tears.  
"It was a nice thought to invite them here, Keith," Rhythmi complimented. Keith was watching the reunion with joyful tears falling down his face.  
"She deserved this," he said simply. "They don't live here in Almia, so I thought she might be a bit homesick. At least just a little. I phoned them a few hours ago, and here they are."  
"I don't think Alexa will forget this anytime soon," Barlow assumed.  
"No…she won't…" Keith said quietly, watching the family entering the empty house.

_To be continued…_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty - Liberate the Tower!**

"WHAAA!"

Alexa woke up with a startled scream as she was suddenly awoken by a loud and annoying 8-bit foreign piece of music with exceedingly repetitive lyrics. The annoying piece of music continued as she panted and looked around, only to find Ryder standing next to her bed with a music player in his left paw. A set of portable speakers was placed on the bedside desk next to Alexa's bed, almost right next to her pillows.  
"Ryder, what the hell are you doing?! Forcing me to do a barrel roll?!" Alexa fumed.  
_You said this annoying Internet joke can wake you up in a heartbeat,_ Ryder explained casually. _I had to; I couldn't wake you up any other way, and we're late._  
"Late? How can we be late?!" Alexa stressed, hurriedly flinging herself out of bed. However, she flinched slightly from pain as she managed to end up sitting on her bed; the pains from her close encounter with Focus Blast still lingered, even after a fortnight had passed.  
_Take it easy, Alex, you've still yet to make a full recovery from Operation Brighton,_ Ryder cautioned. _Besides, you couldn't get to sleep very easily last night because of the pain._  
"I lost sleep?" Alexa asked worriedly.  
_Keith said he'd explain any lateness to Chairperson Erma,_ Ryder smiled. _Besides, they know how much damage you and I took during Operation Brighton._  
"I know, but I still want to get started ASAP," Alexa panicked.

_A little later…_

"Emergency, emergency, we have an emergency situation!" Rhythmi exclaimed. "All Rangers on patrol in the vicinity are to report to the scene immediately!"  
"All Rangers are to provide status reports as soon as possible!" Linda added. Alexa – now dressed in her Ranger Uniform, but looking somewhat messy – and Ryder hurried to the Operations floor, where they found Keith, Buizel and Chairperson Erma. Erma faced Alexa and Keith.  
"Altru Tower has been occupied by an unknown group," she explained. "When it comes to infiltrating the tower, there are none more experienced than you two. Sven and Wendy are off in the Fiore region on another mission, so, Alexa, Keith, you two are on your own this time."  
"Shouldn't be a problem," Alexa smiled. "Anything's better than being woken up by a crappy meme joke," she added quietly, to herself.  
"However, I am certain you are more than capable of the job," Erma smiled. "You are to liberate the tower from the mysterious group of thugs. It goes without saying that you will need the help of Pokémon, dears."  
"Alright, we're on the case," Keith stated.  
"Also, there have been reports of an eerie shadow flittering around the tower recently," Erma added. "Professor Hastings has launched an investigation regarding this shadow. I'm not sure if there is a connection, but you are to be on full alert."  
"Got it. Let's go, Alex!" Keith declared. He, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel raced out of the union.

_At Altru Tower…_

On Staraptor back, Alexa and Keith flew onto the scene, standing outside where Keith was supposed to join Sven and Wendy during Operation Brighton. The Stataptor's left the area. Alexa and Keith noticed the electronic barricade in the way of the door in front of them.  
"Hey, how did that get there?" Keith pondered.  
"Got me. I suppose someone doesn't want to be interrupted," Alexa guessed.  
"Maybe there's a Pokémon downstairs that can deactivate it," Keith suggested. "Let's go look." He and Buizel started jogging to the stairs leading downwards. Alexa and Ryder jogged after him.

_FWEEEEEHEEHHEE_

"Huh?" Alexa looked around in confusion. She then looked at Ryder. "Did you say something just now?" Ryder, Keith and Buizel faced her in confusion.  
_Wasn't me,_ Ryder answered, clearly shaking his head.  
"What's wrong?" Keith asked.  
"I thought I heard something," Alexa replied.  
"Alex, we can't waste time, we have to get this mission over with as soon as we can," Keith stated. "Come on, let's go." Alexa followed Keith down the steps.

_Downstairs…_

Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel wandered around the corridor, but stopped suddenly when they found some familiar-looking men hassling two researchers and an employee of Altru Inc.  
"Get out, all of you!" the first researcher insisted angrily.  
"I never want to see a full-bodied leotard again!" the second researcher complained.  
"Do not resist us! It is futile!" the first goon stated. "We have orders from our boss! Let us through!"  
"Your boss, Blake Hall?" the employee questioned. "He's supposed to be imprisoned somewhere to pay for his crimes."  
"Blake Hall? Please! We have nothing to do with him," the second goon laughed. "Our boss is-"  
"Stop there!" Alexa shouted, as she, Keith and the Pokémon confronted the goons. The goons faced the two Rangers.  
"Pokémon Rangers? Where did you two ooze from?" the first goon asked rudely.  
"Take a guess, genius," Alexa sighed sarcastically.  
"You Dim Sun goons! You up to no good again?!" Keith asked angrily.  
"Dim Sun? Please! We're done with all that," the second goon laughed again. "We're not as pathetic as we once were, don't think you can keep winning!" The two goons set up a Miniremo unit each, and a hypnotised Ampharos and Electrode appeared. The Pokémon ambushed Alexa and Keith respectively.

"Capture on!" Having anticipated the ambush, Alexa and Keith fired their capture discs at the Ampharos and Electrode respectively. The captures were easy for Alexa and Keith, as they were completed in a matter of seconds. The two Pokémon fled from the area.  
"Why you little…I'll try to salvage a little pride with some cool parting words!" the first goon began.  
"We answer to a new boss now! But we still want the world! We have fashion sense, like our boss, and three S words describe us well!" the second goon continued. Alex and Ryder tried their hardest not to burst out laughing, regarding the 'fashion sense' statement. "Smart and sly while stylish! That's our creed and how we rule! We're no longer Team Dim Sun, we are Team Debonairs! Hahah! What do you think of that speech?! I even ad-libbed the Debonairs!" The goons then made their escape, leaving Keith confused, yet leaving Alexa and Ryder amused.  
"Team Debonairs? I don't really get the name," Keith stated.  
"It's just Team Dim Sun with a new label," Alexa sniggered. She and Keith approached the employee and researchers.  
"Thank you, Rangers! Those thugs arrived without warning and took over the tower!" the employee began. "Defending this place was the most we could do…"  
"Their boss is on the top floor, ordering his underlings to remove the three coloured gems," the first researcher continued. "Also, the boss was scolding the goons about hallways or something…"  
"Hallways?" Alexa immediately started pondering about whom the new boss could potentially be.  
"He was certainly quite an odd fellow," the researcher added.  
"Alex? Do you know something I don't?" Keith asked, somewhat with suspicion.  
"I don't want to jump to conclusions right away," Alexa said quietly. "Let's just stop this guy, whoever it is!"

_A short while later…_

Alexa and Keith, having cleared the barricade, entered the previously blocked doorway. At first, nobody was around. However…

**WHACK!**

"Aaaaaaagh!" A 'Debonairs' goon suddenly struck the back of Keith's knees with a baseball bat. As Keith fell to the ground in agony, the goon attempted to whack Alexa across her face.

_GRAB!_

Alexa got a tight grip on the baseball bat with both of her hands. She pulled the bat towards her, pulling the goon along with it as she lifted up her right knee.

**THUMP!**

Alexa's knee collided with the goon's stomach, winding him. This caused his grip on the baseball bat to loosen, allowing Alexa to steal it from him. She used it to shove the goon away from her. She then threw the baseball bat in a different direction.  
"We knew you were coming!" the goon exclaimed, staggering back onto his feet. "That's why I have this Miniremo unit from the Oil Field hideout! I'm not shy about using it either!"  
"Then what the hell was the point in the baseball bat thing!?" Alexa asked angrily, immediately readying her styler for the two automatically summoned hypnotised Ariados. "Capture on!"  
Ryder added an Aura Sphere to Alexa's capture disc, doubling its power, halving the Ariados capturing time. The Ariados were soon freed and they fled from the tower.  
"Urgh! I'm reporting you to the boss for running in the hallway!" the goon fumed, running off.  
"Tell him Alexa says hi!" Alexa shouted tauntingly towards him. She then hurried over to Keith and tended to him. "Keith, are you hurt?"  
"That son of a b-aaaagh!" Keith tried to stand up on his own, but his knees refused to move without causing pain. "That was a cheap shot!"  
"Here, let me help you." Alexa carefully pulled Keith onto his feet with as little pain as possible.  
"AAGH!" As soon as Keith stood up straight, his knees gave way again. Alexa caught him before he fell.  
"Keith, maybe I should call ahead to the Union and ask for someone to come pick you up," Alexa advised. "I don't think you can cope with the mission after-"  
"No, don't," Keith rejected abruptly. "I want to keep going with this."  
"But Keith, if you don't-"  
"Listen, Alex, I really want to make up for not being there for you during Operation Brighton," Keith interrupted.  
"But you were there! You saved Ryder and I from-"  
"I know, I know, from the Dark Void! But if I hadn't been pushed away from the tower, I would've known about how hurt you were sooner! I could've checked up on you! I could've left my post and helped you with your role! You had to go through your pain alone, and I feel bad about that." Keith placed his right hand on Alexa's right shoulder as best he could, given how weak his knees were. "We were supposed to be in that operation together, and I was hoping to check on you occasionally if Magmortar hadn't tried to attack you and Isaac. Please; at least let me be there for you here."  
"Keith…" Alexa was moved by what Keith had to say. She sighed and gave him a warm smile. "Alright. I owe you for saving our lives anyway." Keith smiled at her.  
"Thank you." Alexa placed Keith's left arm over her shoulders as she placed her right arm around Keith's waist. She then hoisted him back onto his feet carefully, making sure his knees were loose, so they caused very little pain.  
"Just keep your knees limp and you should cope," she advised. "But if you get any worse before we find the boss, I'll call someone to pick you up."  
"Thank you, Alex."

_Later…_

Alexa and Keith eventually entered the room containing the blue circuit ball, which Ice previously guarded.  
"I guess that's what we need to destroy to get upstairs," Keith assumed.  
"That's the beast," Alexa confirmed. "Ryder, can you do the honours, please?" she asked.  
_No need to ask,_ Ryder smiled as he fired a Dark Pulse attack at the blue orb of glass. It deactivated as it broke into tiny pieces.  
"Perfect, that should get us upstairs. Let's hurry," Keith stated.  
"Let's not; I don't want to worsen your knees," Alexa countered, moving herself and Keith towards the door.

_CLICK!_

"Huh?" Alexa tried to open the door with just her left hand. "It's locked!"  
"Did we get locked in?" Keith asked. Alexa rested him against the nearest wall before preparing to tackle into the door.  
"Not for long, hopefully. Target clear!" Alexa ran towards the door as fast as she could and crashed into it, accidentally with her right shoulder.  
"AAAGH!" As her pains from Operation Brighton were still lingering, Alexa's tackle caused more damage to her shoulder than to the door. She fell to the floor in pain.  
"Are you alright?!" Keith asked worriedly.  
"Ow…! There's no way I can do what Barlow does…!" she complained.  
_Allow me!_ Ryder got angry and fired an Aura Sphere at the door. Despite the strength of the Aura Sphere, it failed to even dent the door. _Oh, come on! How strong are Altru Inc's doors anyway?!_  
"Hahahahahahahahaha! You guys are hilarious! You fell for a trap that simple?!" laughed a male voice from outside. Alex, Ryder, Buizel and Keith looked towards the door in horror.

_Outside the door…_

"Just let me know if you're getting hungry! I'll serve you up a full-course meal pronto!" taunted one of the 'Debonairs' goons.  
"I'd beat the living crap out of you if you were in here!" Alexa fumed from inside the locked room.

_Inside the room…_

"You hear me, you stupid goons, you'll wish you've never crossed me!" Alexa yelled furiously. She sighed as she helped Keith away from the wall.  
"How do we get out of this mess?" Keith asked with concern.  
"There's always a flaw with traps," Alexa began. "We just have to figure out the flaw to this one." She and Keith failed to notice neither a Dark Void appearing on the floor behind them nor Darkrai exiting from the void.  
"Bui!" Buizel panicked. "Bui, bui-bui, bui!"  
Alexa and Keith turned around to face Darkrai with shock and horror, but Darkrai already started pulling everyone into the Dark Void. Ryder and Buizel were the first to disappear, but Alexa and Keith soon disappeared after. Darkrai disappeared into the void after them.

_A little later…_

Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel – now inside an escapable glass dome – lay unconscious on the yellow floor. Buizel was the first to regain his consciousness, and he moved over to Keith. He then started nudging Keith's left shoulder.  
"Bui! Bui-bui, bui, bui!" Buizel exclaimed. Keith – as a result of Buizel's nudging – woke up. Buizel moved over to Ryder as Keith used his right hand to gently nudge Alexa's left shoulder.  
"Alex? Alex, wake up," he said softly. Alexa soon woke up herself, as did Ryder.  
_Ow…what hit me?_ Ryder asked groggily. Everyone managed to get onto his or her feet, including Keith, much to his surprise.  
"You okay, Keith?" Alexa asked. "Feeling any better?"  
"Maybe I can move on my own," Keith guessed. He, Alexa and the Pokémon exited the dome and confronted Darkrai.  
_Did Darkrai save us?_ Ryder asked.  
"He must've done," Alexa assumed. "He must've been the one I heard back outside the tower."  
"Why would Darkrai save us, though?" Keith questioned.  
"Darkrai must feel it wants to help us protect the Luminous Crystal and the three coloured gems," Alexa believed. Darkrai circled around her happily and floated at her side.  
"Darkrai bonded with you!" Keith smiled. "Let's get to the rooftop now."

_On the rooftop…_

Alexa, Keith, Ryder, Buizel and Darkrai exited the staircase and found two red-haired admins failing to remove the Blue Gem, while the familiar-looking boss fumed at them.  
"Alright, that's enough! Surrender, Team Debonairs!" Keith shouted.  
"You're still Team Dim Sun to me!" Alexa added mockingly.  
"Two pestilent students…" the boss muttered. As Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel ran up the steps, the boss hopped down from where Blake Hall's glass ball was once placed and confronted them.  
"Kincaid!?" Keith was horrified to discover the boss's identity for himself.  
"Where Blake Hall's era came to its pathetic end, I decided to take over," Kincaid said simply.  
"What good is renaming the team going to do? You're just Team Dim Sun with a new label," Alexa sighed.  
"Names are meaningless, Alexa. I, Kincaid, will achieve the domination of the world! But first, I have the chore of getting rid of you two," Kincaid snarled.  
"Good luck," Alexa said sarcastically.  
"Especially you, Alexa!" Kincaid bellowed. Keith faced her in shock. "You never stopped running in the hallways! You ran around Almia to foil my plans!"  
"To be fair, if I walked around Almia, I wouldn't get there in time to foil your plans," Alexa taunted, pretending to yawn out of boredom. "Besides, it's like I told you at the Oil-Field Hideout; better me being 17 than 10."  
"I hate you so much, Alexa! I wish I slammed that door in your face harder than I did at the Ranger School!" Kincaid yelled angrily.  
"Then the door would've come right off its hinges," Alexa ridiculed, looking at the fingernails on her left hand. Kincaid sighed loudly as he faced the admins.  
"What are you doing?! Crush those meddling Rangers!" he demanded. The two admins confronted Alexa and Keith.  
"This is it for you, Rangers!" the female admin stated.  
"No amount of apologising will save you now!" the male added. They then pushed Alexa and Keith down the steps. Several goons appeared from the floor below as Alexa and Keith tumbled down the steps beneath them.

"Aaaagh!" Keith cried out in pain as his left knee took the most amount of damage from the fall. Alexa herself had suffered some damage, particularly to her chest, as she was somewhat struggling to breathe. Ryder, Buizel and Darkrai followed them down the steps with concern.  
"Two weakened Rangers…what made you think you could stop me in your conditions?" Kincaid asked tauntingly. Alexa and Keith struggled to get back onto their feet.  
"Storming the place between the two of us was too reckless?" Keith asked to himself. Alexa helped Keith onto his feet, despite how winded she was.  
"Hold on tight," she whispered quietly. Keith faced her in confusion, but Buizel and Ryder did as she said.  
"Alex, what're you…?"  
"Okay, Darkrai!"  
Darkrai hoisted Alexa and Keith up with its legs as it created a Dark Void underneath them. Kincaid watched in horror as he witnessed his underlings and lesser Admins being pulled into the void. It wasn't long before Darkrai slowly descended as the Dark Void vanished. Darkrai allowed Alexa and Keith down gently, and Alexa placed Keith's right arm over her shoulders for support.  
"Where did they all go?" Keith asked in confusion.  
"You know, I haven't the slightest clue," Alexa replied, equally as confused.

_Meanwhile…_

"WHAAAAAAA!"

The 'Debonairs' goons and two admins fell from the sky and ended up on Nabiki Beach. Two of the goons fell into the ocean.

Alexa and Keith slowly made their way to confront Kincaid, closely followed by Ryder, Buizel and Darkrai.  
"Don't you want to join your minions, Mr Kincaid?" Keith asked tauntingly.  
"Silence, Keith! I don't put my faith in others like you two!" Kincaid scolded. "Pokémon are like minions…they're all just tools to be used."  
"That's not true!" Alexa fumed angrily. "You can't make that judgement! You don't understand what it means to be a Pokémon Trainer and what it involves; friendship and trust!"  
"Hm. I admire your bravery, Alexa," Kincaid smirked. "However, you are naïve to think that Pokémon can be called friends."  
"If you don't believe what I said, then take a look at Ryder!" Alexa shouted furiously. Kincaid tilted his head to look at Ryder.  
"It's a Lucario. Where's the relevance in that?" he asked rudely.  
"It's simple; Lucario evolve from Riolu in a special way," Alexa began in response. "Riolu evolves into Lucario if the said Riolu bears strong feelings of friendship for someone they care about!"  
"Like their trainer, right, Alex?" Keith questioned, with a smile. Alexa faced him with brief confusion before smiling at him. She then nodded to indicate an answer.  
"I've had it up to here with you two and your wasted moralities!" Kincaid bellowed, setting up a Miniremo unit. "Seeing the two of you side by side makes me want to puke! Keith! You're just an idiotic trouble-making son of a bitch!"  
"Hey, language!" Alexa snapped. "What kind of teacher are you, to swear in front of students!"  
"Oh, shut up, you Mary Sue!" Kincaid hissed.  
"Whuh?!" Kincaid's insult left Alexa confused, yet hurt.  
"Who was it that rescued Barlow? You! Who was it that convinced Isaac to go to the Union? You! Who was it that rescued Keith from Heath? You! I swear, Alexa, if anyone were to describe you, Mary Sue would be the perfect description!"  
"Hey, don't you dare talk to her like that!" Keith scolded furiously. A Drapion and a Gliscor – both hypnotised – approached the Miniremo and faced Alexa and Keith. Kincaid glared at Keith.  
"Are you jealous of her because of how perfect she is?" Kincaid asked tauntingly. "Are you jealous because she didn't get herself captured by a blithering idiot with a Hariyama overbite?"  
"Don't you DARE bring that back up! I almost lost Alex because of that bas-"  
"Drapion, Gliscor, get them!" Kincaid commanded abruptly. The two Pokémon made their way towards Alexa and Keith.  
_Oh, no you don't!_ Ryder stepped in front of Alexa and Keith protectively. He formed an Aura Sphere in one paw and readied a Dark Pulse in the other. He then opened his mouth and created a Dragon Pulse.  
"Three attacks at once?!" Kincaid gasped in horror at Ryder's incredible display of power; a Pokémon could ordinarily only use one attack at a time, but Ryder was showing three at once.  
"Wow; Ryder must be stronger than I thought," Keith stated in awe. Alexa was left bewildered; not even she knew Ryder could multi-strike.  
Ryder fired the Aura Sphere at Drapion, the Dark Pulse at Gliscor and the Dragon Pulse at Kincaid's Miniremo unit. With the Miniremo unit destroyed, Drapion and Gliscor are freed and fled – upon their recovery from their respective attacks – from the tower.

"Why?! Why do you two always derail my plans at the last moment?!" Kincaid cried with frustration.  
"Are you sure about that?" asked a familiar voice. Alexa and Keith looked back at the man approaching them and Kincaid.  
"Professor Hastings?" Alexa and Keith questioned. Hastings approached Kincaid.  
"Turning the Luminous Crystal back into the Shadow Crystal will be nigh impossible," Hastings continued. "The darkness in your heart is nothing compared to the light of Almia. If you don't believe me, take a stroll through Puel Town; the sun is shining and the citizens are happy and carefree. Alternatively," Hastings continued, smiling towards Alexa. He then faced Kincaid again. "You can take a look at Alexa. You might say that being a Mary Sue is better than being a naïve antagonist."  
"You heard that?" Alexa asked uneasily. Hastings faced her with a reassuring smile on his face.  
"Indeed. However, Alexa, you are not a Mary Sue as he claimed you to be," he replied. "If you were, you wouldn't have suffered during Operation Brighton."  
"Nrrrrrrgh…!" Kincaid snarled to himself. Hastings approached Darkrai.  
"Incidentally, the eerie shadow looming the tower was Darkrai all along," he continued.  
"It was because of him that Alex and I made it this far," Keith said modestly. "He led us here."  
"Darkrai must have felt the obligation to stay here and protect the Luminous Crystal," Hastings assumed.  
"Yes. Darkrai must've been the one who told me the three gems were in danger," Alexa guessed. "I heard him not long after we arrived here."  
"Darkrai, we will protect the Luminous Crystal and keep it shining brightly," Hastings stated. "You can be sure of that."  
"What's going to happen with Darkrai now, Professor?" Keith asked.  
"I will personally take it to its rightful place of being," Hastings volunteered. "In doing so go our thanks, Darkrai."

_Later…_

"Better?" Alexa asked. Keith was lying on his bed with his feet on his bed, with his knees bent, allowing Alexa to start applying a support bandage on his left knee. Keith already had a support bandage on his right knee.  
"Yeah, much better than earlier. Thanks," Keith thanked. "Where does Darkrai live?" he asked.  
"In the Sinnoh region," Alexa answered. "There're two neighbouring islands not too far from Iron Island; one is Full Moon Island, the other is New Moon Island. Darkrai lives on the New Moon Island, while Cresselia lives on the Full Moon Island." Keith looked at Alexa with a guilty demeanour; Alexa, however, was still carefully moving the support bandage up his left leg.  
"Alex? You knew about Kincaid all along, didn't you?" he asked with concern. Alexa looked up at him in confusion.  
"Hm?"  
"You knew Kincaid was in cahoots with Team Dim Sun all along, didn't you?" Keith repeated his previous question. "Was that why you said you didn't want to jump to conclusions?" Alexa successfully placed the support bandage over Keith's knee before she sighed sadly.  
"It was a hypothesis at the time," she began. "But, yes, I've known Kincaid was a bad guy since…since Ryder and I went to look for Barlow…it was his cargo ship that crashed into the school's pier." Her response was somewhat reluctant, as Keith had noticed.  
"Why are you reluctant?" he asked.  
"Because…I'm afraid of him…" Alexa confessed timidly.  
"Afraid?"  
"I was uneasy around him back at school, and the encounter on the cargo ship explained why," Alexa continued.  
"Ah, yeah, I remember Rhythmi telling me that you didn't trust Kincaid after she gave you that tour," Keith stated.  
"I wanted to tell you earlier…but…I chickened out of it," Alexa sighed. "I really should have, knowing that I can tell you anything, but it's never easy for me to admit when I'm scared…!" Keith moved over to Alexa and cuddled her from behind. This made Alexa feel slightly startled, yet more at ease at the same time. She held onto his arms softly.  
"It's okay. I understand," Keith said reassuringly. Alexa appeared to be blushing as she continued to hold onto his arms.

_To be continued..._


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One – Friendship! The Real Test! (Pt I)**

Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel were in the Operations room at the Union, facing Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma. Rhythmi, Linda and Marcus were all hard at work behind the union heads.  
"It shames me to tell you this, but Kincaid somehow managed to escape arrest at the Altru Tower," Hastings sighed.  
"So he's still at large?" Alexa asked worriedly.  
"Unfortunately, yes, dear," Erma nodded in confirmation. "And we have reason to believe that he will turn Team Dim Sun into his own."  
"Or Team Debonairs," Keith scoffed mockingly. "Seriously, that name didn't make any bit of difference to the team! They still sucked!"  
_Need I remind you, Keith, that you're the one who took the cheap shot at the knees?_ Ryder asked rhetorically. In confusion, Keith looked down at the support bandages Alexa had carefully placed over his knees.  
"And that is why they suck! They're so cheap!" Keith fumed.  
"Yeah…I know," Alexa sighed. Keith looked towards her in confusion.  
"What's wrong?" he asked her.  
"You're right; Team Dim Sun Debonairs are cheap. You and I both know how low they're willing to go just to get what they want," Alexa sighed.  
"Oh." Keith understood the implication behind Alexa's explanation.  
"Rest assured, we're not willing to give up until Kincaid is caught and his team is disbanded," Hastings smiled.  
"In the meantime, dears, I want you to take care while you're out on patrol today," Erma said sensitively. "It seems Kincaid's grudge is dominantly for the two of you."  
"But mostly to me," Alexa sighed.  
_Bah, what're you so worried about? I'm more than happy to kick his head in!_ Ryder smiled.  
"I'm worried about Kincaid showing up again," Alexa admitted. "I've never liked the guy, and the day we rescued Barlow explained why that was, if you recall correctly."  
_I do, and I'm mad at him for pulling that on Barlow! Especially causing his styler to break at Drapion's hands! Speaking of Drapion, were the Drapion and Gliscor we encountered at Altru Inc the same ones as from the cargo ship and the Oil-Field Hideout respectively?_ Ryder asked.  
"I doubt it, but if they were, Kincaid has issues," Alexa said plainly.  
"Like he doesn't have issues already?" Keith asked cheekily. "Look, if anything goes wrong, just let me know and I'll help you out."  
"Thanks, Keith," Alexa smiled towards him.

_Outside…_

Alexa and Ryder walked along the Chroma Road. They suddenly stopped when they saw a familiar-looking black and purple helicopter landing in the Chroma Highlands.  
"Oh, crap…"  
_It's them again!_ Ryder snarled. _I don't know what to call them now, they have two names!_  
"I'm still going to call them Team Dim Sun," Alexa stated, instantly holding her styler in front of her. She tried to establish a contact.  
"I'd put that down if I were you," threatened a familiar-sounding casual male voice. Alexa and Ryder looked around cautiously.  
"And what if I don't, Ice?" Alexa asked suspiciously. Ice made his way out of the wilderness situated on Alexa's left hand side. She and Ryder instantly faced him angrily.  
"Simple; I'd have to hurt you," Ice answered simply.  
"Oh, what do you want now, Ice?" Alexa asked with annoyance.  
_Wanna give us some candy, you hothead_? Ryder asked mockingly.  
"Actually, that would be kinda nice," Alexa teased.  
"Say what you want; I'm only hear to pick something up," Ice shrugged.  
_Oh yeah? You can pick up my Aura Sphere and shove it up your a-_  
"Ryder!" Alexa exclaimed abruptly. "Not funny!"  
_Really? I thought it was,_ Ryder chuckled.  
"When you're done playing around, I'd like to elaborate," Ice sighed.  
"I don't think I want to hear what you're after," Alexa huffed.  
_Me neither; knowing him, it's more candy,_ Ryder joked.  
"No, it's not candy. But it's just as sweet, though," Ice smirked. Alexa noticed Ice's smirk.  
"Ryder, I think we should get out of here," she cautioned quietly.  
_Why would I want to leave when I'm having so much fun?_ Ryder asked. _I really want to get back at the other two as well._  
"It's just a shame you won't see them, my blue friend," Ice sniggered. "But, not to worry; I'm sure your partner will tell them you said hi."  
_What?!_  
"See, that's why I wanted to bail out!" Alexa exclaimed quietly. "Wait a minute…" Alexa faced Ice in horror. "You're still after me?!"  
"Ah, but this is for an entirely different cause," Ice nodded. He set up a Miniremo unit in front of him, which startled Alexa and Ryder.  
_How the bloody hell do you still have that monstrous contraption?!_ Ryder asked in anger. _I thought Operation Brighton put an end to that crap!_  
"So did I!" Alexa cried. "How is that still even working?!"  
"Oh, we made a lot more than you think, Alexa," Ice stated as a hypnotised Tangrowth and a hypnotised Machamp made their way over to Ice. "The Oil-Field Hideout made the Miniremos, and the effect from the Luminous Crystal never reached underwater."  
_Say what?!_ Ryder exclaimed in horror.  
"If I knew that, then we could've-"  
"Stopped us ultimately? Here's the thing, though; you had no inkling," Ice smirked as he typed into the Miniremo. The Machamp moved swiftly towards Ryder with its right fist enveloped in a cloak of fire. Alexa jumped away from Ryder moments before he jumped away from the fiery attack. As soon as the Machamp looked at him, Ryder fired a ready charged Aura Sphere in the Machamp's face.  
"Yeah, you go, boy!" Alexa cheered. "Capture-"

_GRAB!_

"Whuh?!" Three strings of pink and blue vines wrapped around Alexa's body, restraining her arms. She looked towards the hypnotised Tangrowth, which had used its three fingers to ensnare her. Ryder looked towards Alexa in confusion upon hearing her startled cry. He then glared towards Ice.  
_Let go of her! Now!_ Ryder snarled demandingly.  
"Boss's orders," Ice shrugged. "Nothing I can do."  
"Boss?" Alexa asked worriedly.  
_Kincaid? Ooh, I'm going to love getting my own back on him!_ Ryder growled angrily. _But first on my priority list is getting Alex away from you scum!_  
"That will be impossible," Ice said simply. "By the way, you might want to look out behind you."  
_You're bluffing,_ Ryder jeered.  
"No, Ryder, it's Machamp!" Alexa cried.  
_Huh?_ Ryder turned around in confusion.

_WHACK!_

_D'AAGH!_ With its arm shining in a bright white light, Machamp delivered a devastating karate chop-like attack at Ryder. Alexa watched helplessly as Ryder crashed into the ground.  
"Brick Break! Ryder, be careful!" Alexa warned worriedly.  
"That's the least of your worries," Ice said calmly.  
"Whoa!" Tangrowth retracted its vines, which pulled Alexa over to it and Ice. Ryder glanced up at the Tangrowth.  
_Let her go…right now,_ Ryder demanded breathlessly.  
"You're still weak from Darkrai's Focus Blast, are you not? You shouldn't be battling yet," Ice taunted.  
_It was your bloody idea!_ Ryder snarled. _It wasn't like I had a choice either way!_  
"Ryder, watch out for-"

**BANG!**

_D'AAAAAAGH!_ Machamp forced its flaming fist down on Ryder's back, inflicting serious damage.  
"Fire Punch…!"  
"I think we've accomplished enough here," Ice sighed with relief. "Tangrowth, it's time to pack up."  
"Let me go!" Alexa exclaimed, struggling to get loose from Tangrowth's grip. Ice approached her and took hold of her right wrist.  
"Well we can't take that with us, can we?" he asked rhetorically, removing Alexa's styler from her wrist. He threw it behind him; the styler's collision with the ground slightly damaged it.  
_Okay, that's it…you're going to pay big time!_ Ryder vowed, struggling onto his feet. The Machamp glared at him from behind.  
"Ryder! Behind you!" Alexa cried.  
_Huh?_

**BANG!**

_D'AAA-AAAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAAGH!_ Machamp unleashed a devastatingly rapid fury of powerful punches and kicks at Ryder; Machamp was extremely close to Ryder, but it was attacking too fast for Ryder to counter-attack.  
"Ryder!" Alexa screamed in devastation as she watched Ryder fall in defeat after Machamp's fury had ended. "Close Combat…Ice, how could you?!" Alexa asked angrily.  
"I did what was necessary. Kincaid told me not to return to headquarters without you," Ice explained.  
"What?!"  
"Well…either you or Keith…"  
"Keith?!" Alexa gasped in horror; Ice would've targeted Keith?  
"But since Keith had his time with us, I think it's time for the damsel to be in distress for a change," Ice laughed.  
"Not funny!" Alexa exclaimed. "Let me go! If I ever get out of this, I swear you'll-mmph!" Tangrowth carefully wrapped its third finger vine around Alexa's mouth. Ice glanced over at her with a smirk.  
"What was that you were saying?" he asked tauntingly.

_Elsewhere…_

**RING-RING-RING-RING!**

Somewhere in Vien Forest, Keith and Buizel stopped in their tracks when his styler picked up a voicemail. Keith held his styler in front of him and answered the transmission.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Keith, it's Rhythmi," Rhythmi stated, sounding worried. "Keith, can you get to the Chroma Road? Alexa's signal's weakened."  
"How's it weakened?" Keith asked.  
"I don't know; for all we know, her styler may be damaged, but Professor Hastings wants you to check it out anyway," Rhythmi replied.  
"I'm on it," Keith nodded, quickly ending the transmission. "Ready for a run, Buizel?"  
"Bui-bui!" Buizel nodded eagerly. Keith and Buizel headed north, towards Puel Town.

_At the Chroma Road…_

Keith and Buizel casually ran along the path, but they became panicky when they spotted a familiar-looking Pokémon lying in front of them.  
"Ryder!" Keith cried as he raced over to the injured Lucario. Buizel struggled to keep up, but he spotted a recognizable red item lying not too far from Ryder.  
"Ryder, what happened, are you okay?!" Keith asked hastily. "Wh-where's Alex?! Is she okay?!"  
"Bui!" Buizel exclaimed. Keith looked towards his partner and instantly became concerned when he noticed the item in Buizel's arms; Alexa's slightly damaged styler.  
"So that's why her signal was weak," Keith said to himself worriedly.  
_Keith…_ Ryder struggled to sit up. Keith looked over at Ryder and carefully pushed him back down.  
"Don't strain yourself. Where's Alex? Is she alright?" Keith asked.  
_She'd better be…Ice kidnapped her,_ Ryder jeered with frustration. Keith was left virtually speechless; it was either hearing Ice's name or hearing that Ice kidnapped his best friend that shocked him.  
"What?!"  
_That smarmy swine…he had the nerve to pull a cheap trick…and that Machamp…bloody hell, that guy was cheap…_ Ryder growled. _Tangrowth snatched her before she had the chance to use her styler…Keith…we have to rescue her!_  
"D-don't worry, I'm sure we'll think of something!" Keith stated uneasily. He picked up Ryder in his arms and he and Buizel, with Alexa's styler in his arms, ran out of the Chroma Road, headed for the Ranger Union with the terrible news and shocking evidence.

_Meanwhile…_

"So the mission was a success then?" Lavana asked Ice. They, Heath and Kincaid were all in a cold metallic room with virtually nothing inside.  
"Need I even give an answer?" Ice asked rhetorically, looking over at Alexa. She had been tied to a chair with rope; her wrists were tied together behind her, and her torso was tied to the back of the chair. She glared at Ice angrily.  
"For your sake, Ice, Ryder had better be okay after Machamp's onslaught," she threatened.  
"Alexa, you're in no position to make threats," Kincaid said calmly.  
"I don't care! Ryder had better be okay!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"Focus Blast, he survived, yes?" Heath questioned. "Machamp fight, he live, too."  
"Personally, I'd be grateful that it's not Keith Ice managed to snag," Lavana taunted.  
"Don't even get me started on you, Lavana!" Alexa hissed angrily. "Don't think I've forgotten what your Magmortar did to him!"  
"That's enough of that, Alexa," Kincaid warned, approaching her. Alexa looked up at him, rather timidly. "We still have another matter to discuss."  
"W-we do?" Alexa asked shyly.  
"It's about why you're here," Kincaid explained.  
"Let me guess; you're planning to make a ransom demand to the union telling them to come and get me just so you can catch them in a trap you've set up," Alexa guessed randomly.  
"No. Something far simpler than that," Kincaid stated. "You're here to ensure that nobody stops me."  
"I don't follow," Alexa admitted.  
"Oh, I think you will. Once I tell the union I'm holding you hostage, their first instinct will be to send someone to rescue you," Kincaid explained. "However, they won't."  
"Why's that?" Alexa asked.  
"The demand will ensure that they won't; they are not to interfere with my activities…or else I'd do you harm," Kincaid smirked.  
"What?!" Alexa gasped in horror.  
"At least, that's the impression I want to leave. I have no intention on wasting my time aimlessly beating the crap out of you when there're better things for me to be getting on with, nor do I want to deal with the Rangers again. So, in a sense, we'd be fooling the Union once again," Kincaid explained.  
"Tough break, Alexa," Lavana laughed.  
"Still, I can imagine you're thinking it's better you than Keith," Ice shrugged.  
"Heath, can you go and get what we need to communicate with the Union please?" Kincaid requested.  
"Right, sir," Heath complied as he left the virtually empty room. Alexa continued to look up at Kincaid, but looked more frightened than before.  
"You won't get away with this!" she exclaimed. "Someone will find a loophole in your demands!"  
"I'd love to see them try," Kincaid scoffed, moving behind Alexa.  
"I'm sure you'll see it when they smack you right across the face!" Alexa jeered. "Besides, if I tell them it's a joke, they'll listen to me instead of you!"  
"I'm sure," Kincaid smirked.  
"Mmmph!" Kincaid took out a white piece of cloth and tied it over Alexa's mouth. With the cloth gagging her, Kincaid stood back up and faced her directly.  
"That's why I came up with this idea," Kincaid continued. "Now we'll see who the union will listen to."  
"Mmm-mmm-mmph!" Alexa attempted to talk back at Kincaid, but her efforts were wasted and short-lived; not only was she tied up tightly, but also the gag around her mouth prevented her from talking.

_At the union…_

Keith and Buizel ran up the escalator that led to the Operations Room and approached Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma. Keith still held Ryder in his arms, as well as Alexa's styler.  
"Good gracious! Whatever happened to you, Ryder?" Erma asked in horror. Ryder looked towards her regretfully before he looked away from everyone else.  
_I…I should've done something,_ he sighed. _It's my fault…_  
"I don't recall becoming severely injured your fault, even if one is allegedly accident prone," Hastings stated.  
_That's not what I meant…it's my fault…Alex…_ Ryder trailed off into a sigh.  
"Alexa? What happened to Alexa?" Hastings questioned. He looked around in confusion. "Where is she?"  
_Th-that's the thing…Ice…showed up._ Ryder attempted to move himself out of Keith's arms, but he flinched when he moved his back.  
"Ice?" Erma asked.  
"Bui," Buizel approached Chairperson Erma and held Alexa's styler in front of him. Erma gently took the styler from Buizel and showed it to Professor Hastings out of concern.  
"So that's why her signal weakened," Hasting observed quietly. He faced Keith, looking somewhat worried himself. "What happened?"  
"I don't know for sure," Keith sighed.  
_It's Ice, I told you!_ Ryder growled. _He ambushed us and abducted Alex! And all the while I was getting my tail handed to me by a big penguin-faced four-armed freak of nature!_  
"What?!" Rhythmi exclaimed in shock, quickly facing Ryder in horror. Ryder looked over at her, looking somewhat calmer.  
_A Machamp,_ he explained.  
"I don't think that was what she meant, dear," Erma sighed. "Do you have any idea where she is now?"  
"N-no," Keith sighed. "I think Buizel and I arrived too late."  
_Only Alex and I knew what was happening; the fact that nobody else knew what transpired can't be helped,_ Ryder said reassuringly. _But now all I want to do is to get Alex back._  
"And we will. We just have to conjure a plan of action," Hastings pondered. "But how can we do that when we don't know where she's being held?"

**RING-RING-RING-RING!**

"What the…the direct line?" Hastings questioned, glancing over to the telephone next to Rhythmi. "Put that on the loudspeaker if you will please."  
"Of course," Rhythmi nodded. She pressed a button next to the telephone. "Pokémon Ranger Union-"  
"Yes, I know whom I've called. Do you pride yourself in telling others what they already know?" Kincaid answered sternly.  
_Kincaid!_ Ryder snarled furiously, forcing himself out of Keith's arms. _I want answers! What've you done with Alex?!_  
"Don't worry, she's safe. At least, for now," Kincaid taunted.  
"Give it to us straight, Kincaid! What do you want?!" Keith asked demandingly.  
"What I want from the Ranger Union is simple, and I think you'll comply to it," Kincaid began.

_At the same time…_

"Given the fact that it concerns your favourite Ranger, at least," Kincaid scoffed. A black telephone was placed on a large metal table, and Kincaid sat in the wooden chair next to the table. The phone appeared to be on loudspeaker similar to the telephone at the Ranger Union. Heath and Lavana were nowhere to be seen, but Ice stood near Kincaid. Alex was at the other side of the otherwise empty room, still restrained to the wooden chair she sat in, and still with the gag Kincaid tied over her mouth. She watched Kincaid with fear in her eyes.  
"Oh do get on with it!" Hastings scolded. "What is it you want?!"  
"Simple; if I see any other Ranger apart from Alexa, then I'm afraid her condition will worsen," Kincaid replied.  
"Worsen?!" Keith asked in horror.  
"Mmmph? Mmmph!" Alexa quietly struggled within her binds.  
"So you have hurt her?!" Keith asked angrily.  
"You misunderstand, Keith, as per usual," Kincaid huffed. "She wasn't exactly in good condition when we last encountered, am I correct?"  
"Your stupid admins pushed us down the steps, did you expect us to survive it without getting a bruise or two!?" Keith jeered.  
"My point exactly; if I see another Ranger, Alexa will get more than a bruise or two," Kincaid simplified his demand. Alexa suddenly gasped for air; her gag had slipped off of her mouth.  
"Keith, don't listen to him!" she cried fearfully. Kincaid and Ice glanced at her, looking mildly frustrated.  
"Alex!"  
_Alex, are you alright?!_ Ryder asked with concern.  
"Keith, Ryder, don't listen to him!" Alexa cried again. She failed to notice Ice approaching her casually. "Just don't listen to him, it's a blu-mmph!" Ice suddenly clasped his hand over her mouth from behind her.  
"Let her go!" Keith shouted furiously.  
"Calm down, Keith," Hastings cautioned.  
"As I was saying," Kincaid sighed. "Before I was so rudely interrupted," he glared towards Alexa before he looked back at his phone. "If you see anybody from my Team Debonairs, ignore them. You'd do well to do so if you value Alexa's health."  
"A craven play…" Hasting jeered.  
"You coward!" Keith fumed.  
"I wouldn't call it cowardice. I can't be bothered to deal with you, and holding your precious Alexa hostage will see to that," Kincaid smirked.  
_Tauros crap! You just don't want us to defeat you again!_ Ryder exclaimed accusingly.  
"This conversation is over," Kincaid sighed. He pushed another button on the phone, ending his phone call. He glared at Alexa angrily; Ice still held his hand over her mouth, and she looked towards Kincaid timidly. "Thanks for nearly spoiling everything," he said sarcastically.

_Back at the union…_

Rhythmi pressed a button on the phone, which ceased the annoying dial tone it emitted. Ryder snarled with frustration, but Keith wandered away from him, Erma and Hastings.  
_Damn that Kincaid to hell!_ Ryder ranted. _I don't care what he says; he's being a bloody coward!_  
"Bui-bui!" Buizel nodded in agreement.  
"What should we do, Professor?" Erma asked worriedly. Hastings sighed quietly.  
"It seems we have no choice but to go along with his demand," he said regretfully. Ryder glared at him in anger.  
_So you're just going to leave her at Kincaid's mercy?!_ He asked interrogatively. _While you expect us to twiddle our thumbs in hopes that he'll keep his word!?_  
"Ryder, you don't have any thumbs anyway," Hastings began. "But there's no other alternative."  
_I say there is! What say you, Keith? Huh?_ Ryder looked over at Keith in confusion. _You okay?_  
"Keith? What's on your mind, dear?" Erma asked softly.  
"Alex…" Keith answered simply.  
_I promise you, Keith, Kincaid is going to pay for-_  
"No, that's not it; it's what she tried to say," Keith added abruptly.  
"What she tried to say?" Hastings queried.  
"Don't listen to him," Keith repeated Alexa's petrified words.  
"She's the type to put herself at risk for the sake of others, Keith," Hastings sighed. "It's natural she'd say that."  
"What do you think she tried to say?" Rhythmi asked with curiosity.  
"Don't listen to him…it's a…something," Keith said to himself. "What was she trying to say…?" Ryder scoffed.  
_I wouldn't be at all surprised if Kincaid was bluffing about the whole ransom demand,_ he smirked. _After all, if he fooled everyone into thinking that he was a teacher, then he's clearly got a skill at deception._  
"That's it!" Keith exclaimed joyfully. Ryder, Buizel, Erma, Hastings and Rhythmi faced him in astonishment.  
"What's it?" Hastings asked. Keith faced him, looking fairly happy.  
"What Alex tried to say! She was trying to tell us Kincaid was bluffing!" he exclaimed.  
_Say what?!_ Ryder asked in shock. Keith faced him, still with his ecstatic demeanour.  
"You were right! Kincaid did fool everyone into believing that he was a simple teacher with a hatred for hallway runners! Alex must've known about the legitimacy of Kincaid's demand, which is why she was cut off!" he explained.  
"Keith, I know you're worried about her, but are you sure you understand what you're saying?" Hastings asked carefully.  
"Are you certain you want to take the chance that Kincaid will be true to his word and do her harm?" Erma asked.  
"Yes, and he won't hurt her," Keith answered truthfully.  
"How do you know he won't?" Rhythmi asked worriedly.  
"Kincaid isn't the one I trust; Alex is," Keith replied.  
"Keith, your assumption of what Alexa tried to say is only based on Ryder's assumption of Kincaid's motives behind the ransom demand," Hastings assumed. "Are you absolutely certain you're willing to risk her safety?"  
"How can I risk her safety if it's not even at risk?" Keith asked rhetorically. "Kincaid just wants to use her as a deterrent for the rest of us!"  
_Of course! It's like a Repel!_ Ryder exclaimed. Erma looked towards him.  
"A Repel?" she asked. Ryder looked towards her calmly.  
_A Repel is a spray a Pokémon trainer uses to keep wild Pokémon away from them,_ he explained. _According to Phoenix, Alex seldom used one, but when she did, no Pokémon came within five feet of her until it wore off._  
"Exactly what Kincaid is hoping to achieve!" Keith concluded. "He's just using her to keep us away from him!"  
"Even if that were true, Keith, the chance of him harming her still floats around," Hastings warned. "I ask you again; are you absolutely certain that Kincaid is indeed bluffing?"  
"Even if Alex said nothing whatsoever, I would probably still say that he's bluffing," Keith nodded. "Besides, I have complete faith in Alex. It's her I trust, not Kincaid."  
"But Keith-" Rhythmi began worriedly.  
"I know, I know, you don't want to take any chances," Keith sighed abruptly. "But let's not forget how Alex ended up on my back after she and I returned from the Hippowdon Temple."  
_Oh, you had to bring that up, didn't you?_ Ryder sighed.  
"Alex took a chance for my sake. She risked her health – no, her life – to save me without giving Heath the Yellow Gem," Keith explained. "If that's not being a true friend, then I don't know what is. Deep down, I knew I wanted Alex to save me, but I was more concerned about Dim Sun getting the Yellow Gem. But after Ryder gave it up, I knew Alex was more important."  
"Ah. That explains your sudden outburst upon your return," Hastings smiled.  
"And now Alex is the one in peril. I wouldn't call myself her friend if I didn't take any chances for her," Keith sighed. "She's the best thing that's happened to me, and I need to save her! No, I want to save her! I want to save my best friend!" He shouted.

"Even if we wanted to, Keith, we have no idea where she is," Rhythmi said worriedly. "Although, wherever they are, I heard Kincaid's voice echoing. They must be somewhere where voices can echo."  
"I highly doubt they'd be in a cave, Rhythmi," Hastings assumed. "The only cave capable of hiding someone is the Chroma Ruins, and even then the echoed voices would potentially attract attention."  
_Who said they're in a cave?_ Ryder asked rhetorically. Hastings, Erma and Rhythmi faced him in confusion. _Certain rooms are capable of echoing voices as well._  
"Do you have an idea where she is, Ryder?" Keith asked, sounding hopeful. Ryder knelt on one knee and rested his right paw on the floor in front of him. He stared at his paw.  
_Let me use my aura to track Alex's aura,_ he requested. _In doing so will hopefully give me an idea as to where Kincaid's hiding like a coward._  
"Are you sure you should? You're weak enough as it is," Erma said with concern.  
_Believe me, ma'am, using my aura is like breathing to me; it's second nature,_ Ryder nodded as he closed is eyes softly. His four aura sensors lifted.  
Keith, Buizel, Erma, Hastings and Rhythmi all watched Ryder concentrating in silent anxiety. With the exception of the occasional twitching of his sensors, Ryder remained motionless, as if he were a sculpture. Keith took the time to note Ryder's countless bruises and burns, which he had suffered during Machamp's assault. After a short while, a smirk crept onto Ryder's face.  
_I knew it,_ he smiled.  
"You know where they are?" Rhythmi asked in amazement.  
_I really should've known, given how Tangrowth and Machamp obeyed Ice. He used a Miniremo,_ Ryder stated.  
"A Miniremo!?" Hastings gasped in horror. "B-but I thought the Luminous Crystal ceased the use of those accursed things!"  
_As did Alex and I. As it turned out, the effect of the Luminous Crystal never reached underwater,_ Ryder sighed. _Meaning that Kincaid's hiding in the Oil-Field Hideout._  
"Of course! Sven reported that Team Dim Sun made the Miniremos there!" Hastings exclaimed. "No wonder why that came as no surprise!"  
Ryder stood up properly and looked up at Keith, looking guilty and sincere in one facial expression.  
_I've done all I can in my condition,_ he sighed. Keith looked down at Ryder in confusion.  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
_If I go to the Oil-Field Hideout, I'd just be making Alex worry a lot more than she needs to,_ he admitted sadly. _And it would be foolish of me to go all that way with neglected wounds. Please, Keith. Bring Alex back…_  
"No need to tell me twice," Keith nodded. "And don't worry; I'll be sure to tell her you're in safe hands."  
_Thank you,_ Ryder smiled gratefully. He, Erma, Hastings and Rhythmi watched as Keith and Buizel raced out of the Operations Room. Keith, however, was careful as he ran; he still wore his support bandages over his knees.

_Meanwhile…_

"You're a stubborn little thing, aren't you?" Kincaid asked rudely. Alexa's left cheek had a fairly large graze on it, and Alexa appeared to be flinching as she looked away from Kincaid.  
"Wasn't that a bit extreme, boss? Slapping her like that?" Ice asked. Kincaid looked towards Ice as he tossed a thin piece of wood in his right hand.  
"She annoys the hell out of me," Kincaid stated. "But her outburst is meaningless; she failed to tell the Union of my bluff."  
"Someone will figure it out," Alexa hissed. "Someone will figure out what I tried to say. Then they'll stop you."  
"You wish, Alexa," Kincaid huffed. Unbeknownst to Alexa, Ice began to untie the fallen gag and took it from her neck.  
"No. You know what I wish for?" Alexa asked, glaring up at Kincaid angrily. "I wish I never knew you."  
"Same to you," Kincaid retaliated calmly.  
"Mmph!" Ice tied the cloth around Alexa's mouth again. He made sure the gag was tied underneath her hair before he stood up and approached Kincaid.  
"What should we do now, sir?" Ice asked curiously.  
"Ice, you and I will stay here as I have instructed earlier," Kincaid replied. "Heath and Lavana are patrolling around the hideout, just in case what Alexa speculated turns out to be true."  
"That someone will take the chance? And if someone is found?" Ice questioned.  
"Easy; throw them in the ocean," Kincaid answered coldly. "I don't have time to deal with any other Rangers right now."  
"I don't know; I rather enjoyed seeing her suffer during her raid on the Altru Tower," Ice smirked, glancing back at Alexa.  
"Mmmph…!" Alexa glared at him angrily.  
"Even so, I will make sure there are no other Rangers around," Kincaid said calmly. "I'll be back in a while, I'm just going to do some patrolling of my own. You stay here and guard her."  
"It's not like she can do anything, but I guess I can keep her company," Ice scoffed.  
"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmph!" Alexa fumed. Ice looked over at her with a smirk as Kincaid left the bare metallic room.  
"No sense in complaining, Alexa; Kincaid's not going to surrender you so easily," he said calmly.  
"Mmmph…" Alexa looked away from Ice, looking rather worried.

_To be continued…_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty – Friendship! The Real Test! (Pt II)**

Keith and Buizel, riding on the back of a powerful-looking Staraptor, flew across the ocean. The clear blue skies allowed the sun to shine on the surface of the sea, creating a simply majestic look for the water. Buizel, who sat in front of his partner, looked up at Keith worriedly.  
"Bui-bui?" Buizel asked.  
"I'll be fine," Keith answered. He was looking ahead of him, across the horizon, with stern eagerness about his face. Gradually, the offshore base came into view. "Besides, everyone else was still reluctant… We're Alex's only hope."

_Meanwhile…_

Kincaid walked along one of the hideout's many corridors. Heath and Lavana coincidentally approached him.  
"Mr Kincaid sir! What brings you out here?" Lavana asked in confusion.  
"Just making sure there aren't any other Rangers here," Kincaid answered. "Have either of you found anything?"  
"No, sir," Lavana replied.  
"Stupid, Rangers must be, to try coming, yes? For Alexa, I think," Heath laughed.  
"That is why I said I'd hurt her if I saw another Ranger here," Kincaid sighed. "I can't be bothered to waste my energy on her, but I will if I see another Ranger. Heath, Lavana, you go out to the top deck and keep an eye out for in-coming Rangers; if you see any, stop them."  
"Yes sir," Lavana nodded.  
"In the ocean, they will fall, yes? Fun, this will be," Heath laughed, accompanying Lavana into an elevator leading upwards. Kincaid sighed as he made his way down the corridor he had just walked down.

_Elsewhere…_

Ice sat at the metal table in the wooden chair Kincaid had sat in to make the ransom call to the Ranger Union. His right arm was resting on the top of the table, while his left arm rested on his lap. He closed his eyes gently and chuckled.  
"I was just thinking about when Blake Hall was in charge of Team Dim Sun," he explained to Alexa; she was still tied to the chair she sat in.  
"Mmm-mm-mm-mmm-mmmph!" Alexa tried to yell at Ice, but she still had the gag he tied over her mouth.  
"I know you don't want to be reminded of that, but I find it hilarious," Ice laughed. Alexa glared at him furiously as he stood up from the chair and approached her. "Why would he have wanted someone like you?"  
"Mmmph…!" Alexa jeered at Ice. Ice positioned his right finger underneath Alexa's chin and carefully tilted her head up. Ice then looked into her eyes; she looked rather uncomfortable with Ice having tilted her head up.  
"There's nothing that special about you. I don't know what Blake Hall saw in you," Ice sighed.  
"Mmph!" Alexa sharply moved her head away from Ice and avoided looking at him directly.  
"Though you did surprise me, Alexa," Ice added as he crouched down to meet Alexa's eye at her level.  
"Mmph?" Alexa looked at him in confusion.  
"You took a lot of pain during your rebellion at Altru Tower. I actually thought you'd be easy to obtain for Blake Hall back then," Ice explained. "And to think you managed to survive an attack like Focus Blast. And from a powerful Pokémon such as Darkrai, no less."  
"Mmph!" Alexa looked away from Ice again, out of frustration, but Ice used his right hand to move her head to face him again.  
"I'm willing to bet that you're wondering how I knew that's what happened to you," he smirked. "Let's just say that the press are a bunch of nosy fools."

_FSSSEH!_

Ice heard the door opening; he stood up properly and looked towards the door. Kincaid walked into the room, looking casual. Alexa quickly became timid once again.  
"How did your patrol go?" Ice asked curiously.  
"Apparently, nobody else is around," Kincaid responded. "But I've sent Lavana and Heath to the upper deck, where they can spot incoming Rangers and stop them before they land here. How's she been?"  
"I don't think she likes me," Ice chuckled. "Though I assume that's to be expected; I was the one who brought her here, I suppose."  
"True, but let's hope none of the other Rangers show up," Kincaid sighed. "I can't be bothered to deal with them at the moment."  
"Mmmph…" Alexa sighed as she looked away from Kincaid and Ice, with a guilty look in her eyes.

_Outside…_

"Urgh, this breeze is doing nothing for my hair!" Lavana complained. "Still, at least a helicopter isn't landing in the helipad."  
"Rangers, do you think, are coming?" Heath asked curiously.  
"If a Ranger does come, I'll bet it's Keith," Lavana laughed. "I swear, Kincaid doesn't stop talking about how seeing them makes him sick to his stomach." she chuckled.

**STARRRR!**

"What the!?" Lavana and Heath looked across the horizon and found a Staraptor headed their way. Keith and Buizel jumped off of the Staraptor's back and landed on the metal floor beneath them. Keith recoiled in pain; his knees hadn't made a full recovery. Lavana laughed hysterically.  
"Is this to be Alexa's saviour?! He can't handle a simple landing!" she taunted. Keith faced her angrily.  
"Blame your hallway running hater of a boss for that shortcoming!" he scolded. "Where is Alex?!"  
"Bui-bui!" Buizel exclaimed furiously.  
"Alexa, with boss and Ice, she is," Heath answered. "But going there, you will not. Letting you save her, we won't."  
"Try and stop us! Smarmy dumb-talking wiseacre!" Keith insulted Heath out of fury. Buizel stuck his tongue out at Heath.  
"Oh we'll stop you alright," Lavana smirked. Keith looked towards Lavana, also smirking.  
"What, like you did when you had Magmortar send us flying?" he asked tauntingly.  
"Uh…!" Lavana gasped in shock before she glared at him angrily.  
"Look at the bright side; at least you get to keep your hair!" Keith added disdainfully.  
"Bui-bui-bui!" Buizel laughed.  
"Oh for the love of…! Heath, let's get rid of him!" Lavana exclaimed, setting up a Miniremo unit in front of her. Keith glanced at the Miniremo.  
"So Ryder was right after all," he said to himself. He watched Heath setting up his own Miniremo unit.  
As he and Lavana typed into their respective units, Keith and Buizel looked around cautiously.  
"TOOOOOOOR!" A hypnotised Feraligatr leapt out of the ocean and made its way towards Keith.  
"RHHEEEEEEEEEHH!" A hypnotised Gyarados surfaced from the ocean and stared angrily at Keith.

"Bui!" Buizel became startled by the appearance of both Feraligatr and Gyarados, and hid behind Keith's left leg. Keith looked between the Gyarados and the Feraligatr, looking stressed.  
"What's wrong, hotshot? Where's the hero now?" Lavana asked tauntingly.  
"Getting Alexa, you will not be, not now," Heath said tauntingly. "Gyarados and Feraligatr, for you, they too much, yes?"  
"Nrrgh…!" Keith clenched his fists and lowered his head out of frustration. Buizel looked up at him with concern.  
"Bui-bui?" Buizel asked.  
"I'm…I'm not as good as she is…" Keith admitted.  
"Uh huh, that sounds about right," Lavana shrugged.  
"Huh?!" Keith lifted his head up with a horrified look about his face.  
"She's better than you? I'd say that's about right," Lavana repeated herself casually. "At least she apparently had guts when she fought Heath for your sake. But now that she's in distress, you can't even lift a finger for her. What an ungrateful little child you are, Keith."  
"Shut up…" Keith threatened quietly; he clenched his fists tightly and resisted the urge to lose his temper.  
"I mean, come on! Alexa fought the strongest of the Sinis Trio and risked her neck to save you! But when it comes to you striving to save her, you wince like a coward!" Lavana added scornfully.  
"Shut up," Keith threatened again; his voice steadily became louder. Buizel looked up at him in confusion; he heard Keith's threat.  
"And to think she stood up for you back at the Altru Tower two weeks ago," Lavana sighed. "Let me ask you a question, Keith. If we succeeded in handing Alexa over to Mr Hall, what would you have done?"  
"Shut up!" Keith hissed angrily.  
"Can't answer my question?" Lavana derided. "And you call yourself her friend? If I had a spineless coward for a friend, I'd certainly be ashamed of myself."  
"I said shut up!" Keith shouted angrily.  
"And I'm absolutely certain that Alexa is ashamed of you," Lavana jeered insultingly. "Especially when your failure at the Hippowdon Temple could have easily been avoided if you actually fought back."  
"SHUT UP!" Keith furiously bellowed at the top of his voice, sprinting over to Lavana.

**CRASH!**

"Aah!" Keith kicked Lavana's Miniremo into her chest. Keith kicked the Miniremo with such brute force; the unit was destroyed as it collided with Lavana's chest and as she fell onto her back. The hypnotised Feraligatr regained its senses and dived into the ocean. Lavana looked up at Keith, looking irritated; Keith glared at her for a few second before he took the Miniremo unit off of Lavana.  
"Don't EVER mention that again!" he scolded. He then threw the destroyed Miniremo at Heath's Miniremo; the collision resulted in a small explosion, which destroyed both units. Heath had to shield himself, since he was still close to his unit. Gyarados snapped out of its hypnosis and dived back into the ocean. Keith stood there, breathing heavily in an attempt to calm himself down. Buizel ran over to Keith worriedly.  
"Bui-bui?" he asked. Keith looked down at Buizel, looking mildly calmer than before. He gave Buizel a reassuring smile.  
"I'm okay. Sorry I scared you, pal."  
"Bui!" Buizel stroked his head against Keith's right shin out of affection. Keith smiled kindly towards his loving partner.  
"Urgh…!" Lavana's moaning caught Keith's attention; he watched her straining to her feet. Heath moved over to her and helped her onto her feet. Heath glared at Keith furiously.  
"Tell the boss, we will now! Pay price, Alexa will!" he threatened. He then started to escort Lavana towards the doorway leading inside the headquarters. Keith jogged over to the Miniremo ruins and picked up two metal poles that used to be the stands. He then looked towards Heath and Lavana.  
"Save your energy!" he exclaimed, throwing the two poles at them.

**BANG-BANG!**

**THUMP!**

The metal poles struck Heath and Lavana at the back of their heads. The force of the separate impacts was so great, they got knocked unconscious and fell to the ground. Keith slowly approached the fallen duo and looked between them.  
"I'll see myself in…and see myself out with my best friend," he vowed quietly. "Be certain of that; I won't fail her."

_BZZT!_

"Lavana, status report," Kincaid requested. Keith spotted a black walkie-talkie that hung on Lavana's belt and looked at it in confusion.

_BZZT!_

"Lavana, come in! I said status report!" Kincaid repeated himself impatiently. Keith picked the walkie-talkie up off of Lavana's belt and held it in his right hand.

_BZZT!_

"This is no time to mess around with make-up, Lavana, answer me!" Kincaid fumed. Keith looked at the walkie-talkie with frustration.

_BZZT!_

"Kincaid, if I hear your voice one more time before I come down there, I'll find your hairspray and shove it down your throat," Keith threatened sternly.

_BZZT!_

Keith turned off the walkie-talkie, dropped it and stepped on it to break it. He and Buizel made their way inside the hideout.

_Meanwhile…_

"I don't bloody believe this!" Kincaid fumed, throwing his walkie-talkie into the nearest wall.

**CRASH!**

"Mmmph!" the walkie-talkie's collision with the wall startled the already timid Alexa as she shut her eyes tightly and looked away from where the walkie-talkie struck the wall.  
"What's up?" Ice asked casually.  
"That…was Keith!" Kincaid fumed.  
"Mmph?!" Alexa looked over at Kincaid and Ice in amazement.  
"You're kidding me. I thought your minions made sure he was immobile!" Ice assumed in shock.  
"Then how come he was the one who threatened me just now!?" Kincaid asked angrily. "I don't know what he's done with Heath and Lavana, but he'll pay!"  
"If I may, sir, I'll go and sort him out," Ice offered calmly. "Your priority should be making sure Alexa doesn't escape, though I'm not saying she can."  
"Make certain that Keith ends up in a wheelchair," Kincaid snarled. Ice smirked as he made his way out of the room.  
"I'll see to it personally," he complied.

_FSSSEH!_

The door to the room opened when Ice stood in front of it. He looked back at Alexa, who was looking away from him and Kincaid with fear about her eyes.  
"I've seen how you tango, Alexa," Ice began suddenly. Alexa looked towards him in confusion. "Now it's Keith's turn. Make sure you're a good girl for Mr Kincaid."  
"Mmmph!" Alexa fumed as Ice left the room.  
"Dammit!"

**THUMP!**

Out of frustration, Kincaid slammed his fist down on the table next to him. Alexa shut her eyes tightly and looked away from Kincaid out of fear.  
"I don't believe it…you were right…" Kincaid finally said angrily.  
"Mmph?" Alexa squinted towards Kincaid fearfully. He glared furiously towards her, which made her close her eyes and look away from him again.  
"Someone did figure out what you tried to say. And it was Keith, of all people," he growled. "What does it matter anyway? Even if Ice fails to stop him, Keith won't succeed."

_Elsewhere…_

Keith and Buizel ran along a narrow corridor. Keith suddenly stopped and lifted his right foot off of the ground. Buizel stopped and watched Keith in confusion as he saw Keith rubbing his right knee.  
"I should really take it easy, given my knee injuries," Keith sighed. "But I can't knowing that Alex needs help! I'm sure Alex would do the same for me, despite any shortcomings."  
"Bui-bui-bui!" Buizel stated clearly. Keith looked at Buizel in confusion before he sighed with a gentle smile.  
"You're right; she already has," he said quietly. "It's my turn to save her now. I won't let her down, Buizel," he stated, carefully standing back onto his feet. "And I won't let my knees get in my way either!"  
"Good; that means I can get in your way," Ice scoffed. Buizel and Keith looked ahead of them as they saw Ice approaching them casually.  
"Ice! Where's Alex?!" Keith asked demandingly. Ice looked around in confusion before facing Keith again.  
"Where's that Lucario of hers?" he asked nonchalantly.  
"Answer my question!" Keith shouted spitefully. "Where is Alex?!"  
"Chill out; she's in safe hands with Kincaid, no worries," Ice answered offhandedly.  
"He's the last guy I want near her!" Keith reproached. "She'd better be unharmed!"  
"She's fine. She apparently hates me and is evidently scared of Kincaid, but she's fine otherwise," Ice answered calmly.  
"She hates you? I'm not surprised; you're the one who kidnapped her in the first place!" Keith raged. "And I can't believe you hadn't noticed that she hated you before all of this! You must've said something to make her mad when you first met her!"  
"Probably. Oh, and, uh, speaking of Alexa, Kincaid's told me not to let you get to her," Ice said steadily.  
"Why am I not surprised?" Keith sighed as he watched Ice setting up a Miniremo unit. Ice looked over at Keith.  
"I know Alexa can masterfully maintain her control over her styler, even while severely wounded," he began as he glanced down at the Miniremo. "Let's see how well you do with your weakened kneecaps."  
"I was struck from behind, not from the front!" Keith exclaimed in self-defence. Ice ignored him as he typed into his Miniremo.

**CRASH!**

GRAAAAAAAAGH!

A hypnotised Tyranitar broke through the metal door in between Ice and Keith. It stood in front of Ice and glared furiously towards Keith. Keith had become somewhat intimidated by Tyranitar's savage appearance.  
"Ready to give it up, Keith?" Ice asked.  
Keith said nothing; he stared at the green bipedal behemoth, completely intimidated. Keith looked away from Tyranitar and clenched his fists together. After a short period of silence, Keith looked up at Ice with determination.  
"Like hell I'm ready to give up!" Keith declared angrily. He held out his right arm in front of him and rested his left hand on his styler. "Not when my best friend needs help!"  
"Are you sure you're here just because of that?" Ice asked.  
"Don't blame me because nobody else was willing to try and save her!" Keith snapped. "Capture on!"  
Keith fired his capture disc at the Tyranitar. Though Tyranitar was slow, Keith's main difficulty in controlling the capture disc lay in the fact that there was very little room for the capture disc to spin around Tyranitar. Keith drove his capture disc towards him just in time for Buizel to fire a bubble at the capture disc. Tyranitar attempted to strike the capture disc with its large foot, but Keith managed to flick a decent-sized bubble at Tyranitar's foot and ultimately dodge the foot altogether. While the Tyranitar staggered momentarily, Keith spun his capture disc around the dinosaur-like Pokémon and finally redeemed it from the Miniremo's control. Ice's Miniremo gave off a small explosion, and Tyranitar retreated back into the room from whence it came.

"Well, well. I'm impressed," Ice scoffed. "But I'm still not going to let you reach Kincaid."  
"You won't have to, we'll make our own way to him," Keith countered, walking over to Ice. Ice closed his eyes and looked away from Keith with a smirk.  
"I doubt it. You don't even know where he's keeping Alexa," he laughed.  
"Should it matter?" Keith asked rhetorically.

**THUMP!**

Keith punched Ice into the wall with his left fist. Ice hit the wall head first, and the collision with the wall was heavy; he got knocked unconscious upon collision. Ice slumped to the floor and lay there, not moving an inch. Buizel approached the unconscious Ice and poked his head a couple of times.  
"Buizel, let's not waste any more time," Keith sighed. "Kincaid's waiting."  
"Bui!" Buizel growled angrily.  
"I know; he'll pay," Keith nodded. He and Buizel ran further down the corridor.

Meanwhile…

"Oh for love of crap, what the hell is taking Ice so long?!" Kincaid complained angrily. "How long does it take to kick out one bratty Ranger!?"

_FSSSEH!_

"It's about bloody time, Ice! Did you manage to amputate Keith's legs?" Kincaid asked impatiently.  
"I don't know, he's right here," Keith answered sternly. Kincaid looked at the doorway in complete horror and disgust as he saw Keith and Buizel entering the room. The door closed behind him.  
"Mmmph!" Alexa was apparently overjoyed to see Keith.  
"You meddling idiot! What have you done with the Sinis Trio!?" Kincaid demanded furiously.  
"Honestly? I knocked them out," Keith answered bluntly.  
"Mmph?!" Alexa was left astonished. Kincaid, however, was furious.  
"What?!"  
"Lavana pissed me off for the last time, but I also knocked Heath out cold for no particular reason," Keith explained. "And as for Ice, well…I'm sure you can understand why I decided to give him a knuckle sandwich."  
"I swear, Keith, sometimes you annoy me more than Alexa does!" Kincaid fumed spitefully. "I despise seeing the two of you together! I almost felt like throwing up when you encountered me atop the Altru Tower!"  
"What a shame," Keith sighed sarcastically, moving over to Alexa. He stood in front of her and faced Kincaid protectively. "Because if you want to hurt Alex, you'll have to get through me first. And believe me when I say that I won't go down so easily! I'll make you pay for everything you've done to her!"  
Alexa looked up at Keith with tear-filled eyes. Kincaid, however, couldn't stop snarling towards Keith. He eventually set up a Miniremo unit in front of him.  
"What compels you to save her, Keith?" Kincaid asked rudely. "What are your motives to challenge me?"  
"Kincaid, those are extremely easy questions for me to answer!" Keith exclaimed. "They're easy because they're painfully obvious; Alex is the best friend I've ever had, and I, for one, feel that I was lucky to have met her! As for why I want to challenge you, Kincaid, well… May I ask where you were when Ice kidnapped my friend? Surely you knew what your little blue boy was up to!"  
"Shut up, Keith! Don't talk down to me! I'll kick you out of here myself!" Kincaid ranted angrily, typing into his Miniremo. While Kincaid typed into his Miniremo, Keith looked back at his bound and gagged friend with a reassuring smile.  
"Don't worry, Alex, I'll save you," he promised sincerely. Though she still appeared to be worried, Alexa nodded at Keith. Keith nodded in return before he faced Kincaid once more.

RHEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!

**CRASH!**

A hypnotised Salamence crashed through the metal doors and confronted Keith and Buizel. Keith readied his styler while he maintained his ground, protectively standing in front of Alexa.  
"Any last words before Salamence rips your legs off?" Kincaid asked tauntingly.  
"Several. However, there's a lady present," Keith replied.  
"She's all you care about, isn't she?!" Kincaid asked with frustration.  
"Well I can't exactly show any concern for you, can I?" Keith asked sarcastically.  
"Salamence, attack him!" Kincaid shouted demandingly. Buizel suddenly spotted a thin piece of wood not too far from the left hand side of the chair nearby.

RHEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!

As soon as Salamence began flying towards Keith, Buizel picked up the piece of wood and looked up at Keith.  
"Bui!" Buizel threw the wood piece to Keith. Keith caught it and faced Salamence again.  
"Back!"

_SLASH!_

RHEEEEEEEERGH!

Salamence flew away from Keith, having just been slashed across the face with the piece of wood Keith received from Buizel.  
"Don't you dare come any closer!" Keith shouted angrily. "Capture on!" He fired his capture disc at the slightly wounded Salamence.  
Salamence continuously attempted to shoot the capture disc with small blue embers from its mouth, but Keith kept masterfully dodging the flames. Keith continued to spin his capture disc around Salamence.  
"Give it up, Keith, you won't win against me," Kincaid scoffed rudely.  
"And leave Alex with you? Like hell!" Keith fumed angrily. "There's no way I'm leaving my best friend with a hairspray abusing lunatic with an unhealthy hatred for hallway runners!"  
After a short while, Kincaid's Miniremo gave off a small explosion. Keith, however, kept his capture disc spinning around Salamence.  
"Keith, what're you doing now?" Kincaid asked in confusion. "You're done."  
"Oh no I'm not," Keith smirked. A white ring of light formed and shrunk around Salamence, eventually enveloping it in a white light, which soon faded. "Now I'm done; it's capture complete!"  
"You actually caught the Salamence?!" Kincaid asked in horror. Keith glared at Kincaid angrily.  
"Salamence? Can you give us some privacy please?" he asked calmly. "And be sure to give Kincaid a good run, won't you?"

RHEEEEEEEERGH!

"Oh, bloody hell!" Kincaid fled from the room, with the Salamence in hot pursuit.

Keith recalled his capture disc and ran over to Alexa as he took out his mini Swiss Army knife. He first cut through the ropes that bound Alexa's torso to the back of the chair. Once he freed Alexa's wrists, he instantly moved in front of Alexa and pulled the gag away from her mouth. Alexa gasped for air and started to hyperventilate. She flung herself into Keith's arms and held onto him tightly. Keith held onto her softly.  
"Oh, Keith! I thought Kincaid stumped you this time!" Alexa cried sadly. Keith smiled warmly as he stood up straight. He helped Alexa out of the chair she was tied to and he looked into her eyes.  
"I told you; if anything goes wrong, let me know and I'll help you," he said softly.  
"I tried to let you know, I really did!" Alexa cried fearfully. "When Ryder and I saw Team Dim Sun's helicopter landing in the Chroma Highlands, I tried to call you for backup!"  
"Really? You were going to call me first?" Keith asked in astonishment.  
"But Ice showed up! He had Tangrowth ensnare me while Machamp occupied Ryder!" Alexa added. "Y-you have no idea what Ryder went through! Brick Break, Fire Punch and Close Combat! It was like that Machamp was trained to defeat Ryder or something!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. Keith untied the cloth stuck around her neck and used it to gently wipe the tears away from Alexa's eyes.  
"That explains the burns anyway. But, Alex, I need to know something. Did they hurt you?" Keith asked softly.  
"No," Alexa answered timidly. Keith sighed with relief.  
"Oh thank God…I knew Kincaid didn't have the guts," he smiled.  
"No; he said he couldn't be bothered to," Alexa said sadly.  
"What? That seems out of character for Kincaid," Keith stated in bewilderment.  
"He kept saying he had better things to do," Alexa explained. "So he decided to make the ransom demand to the Union; if any of the other Rangers tried to stop him, he'd hurt me."  
"But you knew he wouldn't?" Keith asked.  
"He practically told me," Alexa answered shakily. "As soon as he told me, he tied that over my mouth," she added, pointing to the cloth Keith held in his hand. He looked at the cloth in question.  
"Now I know why I heard you gasp down the phone," he sighed. "But if he didn't want his plan ruined, why did he tell you in the first place?"  
"I don't know!" Alexa cried loudly. Her outburst startled and concerned Keith.  
"Sorry," he apologised gently.  
"I-it's not your fault. I-I'm just…shaken up," Alexa said shyly. "I-I've never been around Kincaid for so long, that's all."  
"And you're afraid of him still, aren't you?" Keith asked sensitively. Alexa looked straight into his eyes; her own eyes were flooded with tears.  
"Not still afraid of him; more afraid of him," she said tearfully. She started to sob, but she held herself back instantly.  
"Hey…" Keith drew Alexa closer to him and held onto her softly. She wept in the security of Keith's cuddle. "Hey, it's okay…I won't let him hurt you."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I dragged you all the way out here!" Alexa apologised sadly. Keith looked down at her with concern.  
"What're you talking about? You couldn't help anything, you were in danger," he said tenderly. "Besides, I wanted to save you."  
"I-I just felt so helpless!" Alexa wept. "A-as soon as I heard your voice on the phone, I-I had to tell you what Kincaid told me!"  
"That the ransom was a bluff?" Keith asked.  
"I would've finished my sentence if Ice hadn't shut me up again!" Alexa cried sorrowfully.  
"It's okay, you told me enough," Keith smiled reassuringly. Alexa momentarily calmed down and looked up at him in confusion. "Though I did wonder about what that final word was. But when Ryder mentioned Kincaid's past deceit, I worked it out. Ryder then used his aura to track where you were, and here I am."  
"Ryder?" Alexa questioned nervously.  
"Despite his condition, he was of tremendous help," Keith smiled. "I had to promise him I'd bring you back safely."  
"So he's okay?" Alex asked, sounding somewhat hopeful. Keith continued to smile gently as he wiped away more of Alexa's tears away from her eyes.  
"He's in safe hands back at the Union," he confirmed. "I brought him back myself, along with your styler." Alexa smiled warmly at him.  
"Keith?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thank you…for saving my life," Alexa thanked nervously. Keith placed his right hand gently on the back of Alexa's head and cuddled her lightly.  
"You're welcome," he whispered.

_CLANG!_

Alexa and Keith looked towards the doorway leading out of the room, only to find Ice, Lavana and Heath barging their way inside. Keith instantly held onto Alexa protectively.  
"You're quite the one, aren't you Keith?" Ice asked sternly, rubbing the left hand side of his head.  
"I thought I left you all zonked out! What do you want now?!" Keith asked angrily.  
"It was lucky we woke up; the boss was being chased by a Salamence," Ice said calmly.  
"Yeah, I know; I was the one that made it happen! I wanted some privacy while I finally freed Alex from your grasp!" Keith sneered.  
"But you're not out of the woods yet," Kincaid scoffed, making his way into the room. Alexa and Keith stepped back; they eventually found themselves in the nearest corner of the room, much to their astonishment.  
"Surrender, now, you will, yes?" Heath threatened. Keith glared at Kincaid and the Sinis Trio furiously.  
"Nowhere left to run, kid," Lavana scorned.  
"I gave you a chance to give yourself up, Keith," Kincaid sighed as he, Lavana, Ice and Heath brought out a Miniremo unit each. "But you blew it. There won't be any more mercy from us." He, Ice, Lavana and Heath all typed into their Miniremos.

A hypnotised Nidoqueen, a hypnotised Donphan, a hypnotised Aggron and a hypnotised Weavile made their way into the room and confronted Keith and Alexa.  
"What are you going to do now, Keith?" Kincaid asked teasingly. "Alexa doesn't have her styler; she can't help you with this. You're completely alone."  
"Nrrgh…" Keith glared towards Kincaid with frustration. He subtly nudged Alexa into the corner and he stood in front of her protectively. He held out his styler in front of him. Buizel ran over to Keith and stood at his side, looking confident.  
"Hm. Still as persistent as ever, I see," Kincaid scoffed. "But remember; it's one Ranger against the four of us."  
"Keith…be careful," Alexa cautioned worriedly. Keith turned to her with a smile on his face. He nodded towards her.  
"Just stay behind me; I'll protect you," he promised. He faced the four hypnotised Pokémon again, with his styler at the ready. "And I'll make sure they all pay for kidnapping you!"  
"I'd love to see you try, Keith," Kincaid laughed. "You're only one Ranger; what can you do against four Pokémon?"  
"The only thing I can do; release my capture disc and hope for the best!" Keith replied. "And with Alex behind me, things are looking hopeful!"

_To be continued…_


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three – Friendship! The Real Test! (Pt III)**

_Meanwhile, at the Union…_

Ryder sat on a desktop in the research room with his right arm stretched out in front of him. Isaac started to apply a bandage to Ryder's arm; he had already applied bandages to other parts of Ryder's body. Ryder kept his head lowered and avoided eye contact with Isaac.  
"It's a good thing Professor Hastings called me for this," Isaac said casually. "Apparently Vatona and Nage are on holiday," he laughed.  
Ryder simply sighed quietly. He looked fairly sad, but his eyes were dominantly filled with regret; he was ashamed of himself. Isaac faced Ryder with concern.  
"Ryder? You haven't said a word since Keith left. Are you okay?" he asked.  
_I should've gone with him,_ Ryder finally said regretfully. _I could've helped him._  
"How would you help him in your condition? Besides, Professor Hastings told me that you did help him; you told him where Alex is," Isaac said reassuringly.  
_I know, but I wouldn't have had to use my aura to locate her if I fought harder to save her from Tangrowth!_ Ryder complained sadly. _I've let her down…_  
"That's no way to talk or think. There was nothing you could do, so try not to worry about it and worry about your own injuries," Isaac advised.  
_I could have done something! It's a little something I like to call Psychic!_ Ryder cried angrily. _If I had used that on Machamp, I would've been able to free Alex and avoid this whole mess to begin with! It's my fault!_  
"Okay, that is no way to talk or think," Isaac sighed. "Look, it's not your fault Alex is missing."  
_Yes it is, and she's not missing! Kincaid's holding her captive and I can't do anything to save her!_ Ryder closed his eyes tightly in a vain attempt to hold back his tears. He clenched his left paw in an attempt to contain his anger. _I should've gone with Keith!_  
"Keith's more than capable of finding Alex, I'm sure of it," Isaac smiled after he successfully applied the bandage around Ryder's arm. "Besides, the two are the best of friends, I highly doubt Keith will give up so easily."  
_But his knees-_  
"That won't stop him," Isaac interrupted. "I know that Magmortar's attack didn't stop him during Operation Brighton either. Alex knows that all too well." Ryder looked at Isaac directly in confusion; the tears he held back were released and fell down his face.  
_What're you-_  
"You know what I mean. You were also saved in the process," Isaac smiled. "Listen, Ryder, I'm sure Keith feels obligated to save Alex like she saved him; if I know Keith…he won't let anything stop him from clearing his mission."

_Meanwhile…_

Keith maintained his ground, protectively standing in front of Alexa, who was timidly standing between Keith and the corner behind her, looking towards the four hypnotised Pokémon over his shoulder. Keith continued to hold his styler out in front of him, and Buizel stood his ground at Keith's side, still with his confident demeanour.  
"Hopeful? The odds are stacked against you, Keith," Kincaid laughed. "You're the only thing that stands between me and the Ranger I chose to deter the rest of you; once you're gone, nothing will stand against me."  
"So you did want to use her as a repellent?" Keith asked rudely. "Even by your standards, that's pathetic, and a poor way to treat anyone!"  
"Oh, come on, how is what did with her any different to what Heath did with you?" Kincaid asked insensitively.  
"Simple; he used me just to get his hands on something without putting in any effort, which – though I don't like to admit it – actually worked! Alex's case is entirely different; she was used in an attempt to keep the rest of us Rangers away from you just because you didn't want to face us again!" Keith ranted. "At least there was a good reason – on your part – for my dilemma; your excuse for mistreating Alex was petty and pathetic!"  
"And it would've worked if she hadn't tried to spoil everything," Ice shrugged.  
"If you didn't want it to be ruined, then why the hell did you tell her the plan to begin with!?" Keith asked furiously. "Seriously, Kincaid, at least Heath was smart when he used me! Your plan failed as soon as you told her what you had planned for Alex!"  
"I told her to keep her quiet!" Kincaid shouted in self-defence.  
"I don't recall wanting to know what you planned for me, I just took a wild guess and guessed wrong," Alexa said nervously.  
"Shut up, Alexa!" Kincaid barked. Alexa winced behind Keith, intimidated. Keith looked back at her in confusion before he looked towards Kincaid again, still confused.  
"What was that for?!" he asked in bewilderment.  
"I hate that girl so much, I can't even stand to hear her voice!" Kincaid explained.  
"So the cloth…there was an ulterior motive to it," Keith said quietly in realisation.  
"Exactly. Now, I'll take her back now, if you don't mind, Keith," Kincaid insisted.  
"You're insane to think that I'd hand her over to you!" Keith shouted furiously. "If you hate Alex, just leave her alone!"  
"Aw, but watching her wince is so much fun!" Lavana complained playfully. "We need her anyway to keep other Rangers away from us."  
"It almost worked; I was the only one willing to save her!" Keith declared.  
"What?" Alexa gasped in shock.  
"What of her Lucario?" Ice asked.  
"He was in no fit state to accompany me, although he wanted to," Keith replied sternly. "He would've been fine if it hadn't been for your ambush, Ice!"  
"Keith, wasting your breath, you are doing," Heath sighed. "Give her up, we spare you. You agree, yes?"  
"I agree, no!" Keith retaliated whilst he mimicked Heath. "I told you, if you want to hurt Alex, you'd have to go through me!"  
"Keith…" Alexa whispered worriedly.  
"Capture on!" Keith fired his capture disc at the four hypnotised Pokémon.  
"How pathetic. Pokémon, destroy that thing!" Kincaid instructed. Nidoqueen, Donphan, Aggron and Weavile all attempted to attack the capture disc.

Keith controlled his capture disc with his right arm. Alexa watched the capture disc spinning around, occasionally around at least one of the four Pokémon, anxiously. She suddenly felt Keith's left hand gently holding onto her own left hand. She looked down at her hand before she looked towards Keith in astonishment.  
"Try to stay calm, Alex," Keith said softly. "I'll get you out of here. I promise you." Alexa started to blush as she heard Keith's pledge.  
"WEAVILE!" Weavile slashed Keith's capture disc away from the Donphan, which inflicted serious damage to it.  
"Urgh…!" Keith had a hard time controlling his capture disc after the damage it received. Alexa watched the strenuous battle between Keith's capture disc and the four hypnotised Pokémon fretfully.  
"Keep trying if you want; Alexa can't help you," Lavana laughed. Alexa looked towards Lavana in confusion; her confusion turned into sudden realisation before she appeared to be determined.  
"Oh yes she can!" she exclaimed, forcing her hand out of Keith's. She moved over to Keith's right arm and held onto it with both of her hands. Keith looked at her in astonishment while Kincaid and the Sinis Trio watched in confusion.  
"Alex, what're you doing?" Keith asked. Alexa looked up at him with a gentle smile.  
"Just because I can't help you capture those Pokémon, it doesn't mean I can't help at all," she explained. "Let me help you guide your capture disc; I know how exhausting it gets after a while."  
"Alex…" Keith smiled warmly at her. He nodded at her. "Thank you." Alexa nodded in return, and the two of them looked towards the Pokémon again.  
"You're insane, Alexa! How can you control Keith's styler when you're not wearing it?" Kincaid asked mockingly.  
"I never said that, Kincaid," Alexa countered. "It's called support!"  
"Hey, Alex, let's show him the benefits of putting one's faith in others!" Keith suggested.  
"Way ahead of you!" Alexa smiled.

Nidoqueen attempted to release bullets of mud at the capture disc. Alexa sharply pulled Keith's arm towards her, which quickly moved the capture disc away from the barrage. Alexa loosened her grip on Keith's arm slightly to allow him to move his capture disc in to circle around Nidoqueen. Donphan started to roll towards the capture disc; Alexa pushed Keith's arm down, which moved the capture disc towards the ground, which then caused the Donphan to crash into the Nidoqueen. While Nidoqueen and Donphan were dazed, Keith instantly spun his capture disc around the two of them, quickly capturing them. Heath and Lavana's Miniremos exploded as a result.  
"Wh-what?!" Lavana gasped.  
"Happening, this cannot be! How, this be possible?!" Heath asked in horror. Ice and Kincaid glared at Alexa and Keith.  
"How is it possible for two Rangers to control one styler?" Kincaid asked quietly. "How is it that a task designed for one Ranger can be carried out by two?"  
"Does it matter? I'd say it's time to play rough," Ice suggested inaudibly. Kincaid nodded in agreement.  
"Playtime is over," Kincaid sneered. Ice typed into his Miniremos once more. Weavile sprinted towards Keith; Keith and Alexa, however, were dominantly focused on circling the capture disc around Aggron. Weavile leapt into the air with its right claws engulfed in a deep purple light. Weavile then dived towards Alexa. Keith squinted up at Weavile.  
"Watch out!" Keith pushed Alexa into the corner and stretched his arms out protectively, virtually trapping her in the corner.

_SLASH!_

"DAAAAGH!" Weavile's glowing claws slashed across Keith's chest, tearing his jacket and shirt. Weavile ran back to the capture disc as Keith winced in pain as he knelt on one of his injured knees. Alexa was horrified, but she quickly took hold of Keith's arm and pulled it towards her, which made the capture disc move away from Aggron's foot.  
"WEAVIIILE!" Weavile, however, tried to slash the capture disc, but Aggron accidentally stepped on Weavile's back.  
Keith looked up at Weavile and Aggron and, despite his pain, spun his capture disc around the conflicting duo. Kincaid and Ice's Miniremo units exploded once the captures were successful. Keith lowered his right arm and flinched from the pain on his chest. Alexa knelt next to him and looked at him worriedly.  
"Keith, are you alright?" she asked with concern. Keith looked towards Alexa with a reassuring smile and nodded at her.  
"You're the one I'm worried about, though," he said kindly. Alexa helped Keith stand onto his feet properly.  
"Dammit!" Kincaid fumed. "This time, you two have gone too far!" he bellowed as he ran towards Keith and Alexa.  
"Boss, wait!" Ice cautioned hastily. Keith gently pushed Alexa into the corner behind him with his right elbow.

**THUMP!**

"DUUUH!" Keith punched Kincaid in the stomach. Alexa backed herself into the corner as far as she could, looked away from Kincaid and covered her eyes with her hands a mere second before the punch was delivered. Keith slapped his left hand down on Kincaid's right shoulder and gripped it tightly.  
"I thought you said no running in the hallways," Keith taunted. He pushed Kincaid away from him slightly.

**WHACK!**

"DAAGH!" Keith punched Kincaid in his face, which knocked him down onto the floor. Kincaid landed on his back.  
"Boss!" Lavana screamed. Keith quickly recalled his idle capture disc and held Alexa's right wrist with his left hand.  
"Boss!" Heath exclaimed as he, Lavana and Ice hurried over to the winded Kincaid.  
"Run, Alex!" Keith exclaimed as he quickly ran away from Kincaid. Alexa ran alongside him, with Keith holding onto her wrist, and Buizel kept up perfectly well. The trio fled the room when the Sinis Trio got to Kincaid.  
"Boss, are you alright?!" Lavana asked in shock.  
"Never mind me, you fools! Get those bloody kids!" Kincaid exclaimed breathlessly. Heath helped Kincaid onto his feet as Ice and Lavana ran out of the room, in pursuit of Alexa and Keith.

_Elsewhere…_

Keith, Alexa and Buizel ran into the elevator that led to the over-sea part of the hideout. The doors closed behind them and the elevator started its gentle ascent. Keith, Alex and Buizel sighed with relief.  
"That was close," Keith sighed. He looked over at Alex with concern. "Are you okay?" Alexa looked back at him with a warm smile.  
"I'm fine. But I'm more worried about you," she replied. "Ah!" she gasped in horror.  
"What's wrong?" Keith asked.  
"Your chest..!" Alexa exclaimed worriedly. Keith rested his left hand on his chest in confusion. He moved his hand away as he recoiled and looked at his fingers; they were stained with blood. More confused, Keith turned to the glass behind him; though his reflection was translucent, he noticed his shirt was torn and was mildly stained with blood.  
"How did-"  
"Weavile used Night Slash!" Alexa explained, clearly distraught. Keith faced her in confusion; she appeared to be devastated. "It's one of Weavile's strongest attacks! It struck you because it tried to strike me! Oh, Keith, I'm so sorry!" she cried.  
"Hey, don't apologise," Keith smiled sincerely. Alexa looked at him in confusion as he approached her. "I promised I'd protect you. I don't care if I get hurt; just so long as you avoid the pain."  
"I-I still feel it's my fault…just like Ryder's pain! Ryder got hurt because he tried to save me. And now you…you got hurt because you took an attack that was meant for me…it's not fair!" Alexa complained sadly.  
"No, Alex. I'll tell you what's not fair," Keith said truthfully.  
"Huh?"  
"Kincaid using you to keep the rest of us from ruining his plans just because he can't be bothered to face us himself," Keith answered angrily. "Knowing that you were being held hostage was bad enough, but the fact that you were being used to support Kincaid's newfound laziness is completely ridiculous! At least there was a dignified reason when Heath used me, but it was unfair for you to be used so cheaply!"  
"Keith…"  
"But it doesn't matter anymore. Once we get back to the union, everything will be fine," Keith smiled amiably.  
"Keith…are you sure you should've come after me?" Alexa asked with concern. "Given your knees, I mean."  
"Alex, I may have been struck only yesterday, but they don't hurt so much now," Keith said comfortingly. "And even if they still hurt as much as they did yesterday, I would still come after you."

_KU-DUNG!_

The elevator ended its ascent and the doors opened. Alexa, Keith and Buizel made their way out of the elevator before the doors closed again. They watched the elevator descending.  
"We're not out of the woods yet, Alex; I really don't want to find out who called the elevator back," Keith said uneasily.  
"We should hurry to the second elevator before that one comes back," Alexa suggested.  
"Good idea, that one will finally take us outside," Keith nodded in agreement as he gently took Alexa's right wrist with his left hand. "Can you keep up?"  
"I'm not about to slow down, Keith," Alexa replied.  
"Good, let's go." Keith ran off and pulled Alexa along with him. She and Buizel kept up easily.

_Meanwhile, at the union…_

Ryder paced around the Operations room anxiously; he had bandages placed around his forehead, on one of the aura sensors on the left hand side of his head, his right ear, his waist, his right arm, his left wrist and around the tip of his tail. He also appeared to be limping as he paced, as his right ankle and foot also had a bandage around them. Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma faced Ryder worriedly.  
"Stop pacing, Ryder, I'm sure they're alright," Hastings sighed.  
_I can't help it. I'm worried about them,_ Ryder admitted. _Keith would've reported back right about now._  
"He's dealing with Kincaid, dear, I'm sure he's busy at the moment," Erma assumed.  
_I just hope Alex is unharmed as Kincaid claimed,_ Ryder said worriedly. _I should go over to the Oil Field Hideout and help them._  
"I forbid that, Ryder, for obvious reasons," Hastings said strictly. "That's why I've taken the liberty of informing another Ranger of the circumstances."  
_What?_ Ryder faced Hastings in astonishment. _But I thought you didn't want to take any chances!_  
"I've done some pondering after Keith left; we were also deceived about the Altru Tower, if you recall correctly, so I realised it was safe to send someone after Alexa after all," Hastings smiled. "Even though Keith sent himself after her. But that is neither here nor there, I've asked this Ranger to head towards the Oil Field Hideout by boat and meet up with Keith and Alexa."  
_By boat?_ Ryder asked in confusion.

_Meanwhile…_

Alexa, Keith and Buizel exited from the elevator and vacated the room. They ended up outside the hideout, and they ran to the round purple and grey helipad. The three of them stopped and breathed heavily to catch their breath.  
"Geez, that was a lot of running," Keith complained. Alexa looked towards him with concern.  
"How's your chest?" she asked. Keith faced her with a straight face.  
"It stings, I must admit," he answered. "But I'm just glad my ribs protect my lungs," he teased.  
"Hang in there, Keith. You're doing great," Alexa smiled kind-heartedly. Keith smiled at her.  
"You think so?" he asked curiously. Alexa nodded at him and smiled sincerely while she blushed.  
"Thanks for rescuing me," she said modestly. Keith chuckled as he approached her.  
"I wasn't going to let Kincaid use you like an old sock," he smiled. "You're better than that. Nobody should be allowed to use you like that ever again."  
"Thank you," Alexa smiled shyly.

ALEXA! KEITH!

Alexa and Keith looked around in confusion upon hearing their names. Buizel ran towards the helipad and looked down.  
"Bui!" Buizel exclaimed loudly. Alex and Keith approached him and looked down along with Buizel; they smiled happily when they recognised the man who called their names.  
"Sven!" they cried happily.  
"Hey, you alright?!" Sven asked loudly; he and Luxray looked up at them from the same white and blue boat that took Alexa and Ryder to the Haruba Desert.  
"We're fine!" Alexa called back.  
"How did you know we were here, Sven?!" Keith shouted.  
"Professor Hastings filled me in on what's happened!" Sven shouted back. "He's asked me to take you two back to the Union!"  
"That's great!" Keith smiled. Alexa looked behind her in confusion. "I forgot to make arrangements for the trip back!" he laughed.  
"Aagh!" Alexa's petrified scream caught Keith's attention and confused Sven. Keith and Buizel looked behind them in confusion; their confusion quickly turned into anger.  
"Something's going on up there," Sven said to himself. "I don't like it. Come on, Luxray."  
"Luxray," Luxray nodded as he followed Sven out of the boat.

Atop the Oil Field Hideout, Ice and Lavana confronted Keith and Alexa. Heath and Kincaid, who recovered slightly, joined them not long after Ice and Lavana arrived. Ice stepped forward. Keith held his left arm in front of Alex protectively.  
"You've done well to get this far," Ice said calmly. "But I'm afraid your rescue mission ends here, Keith."  
"You're right; my rescue mission does end here," Keith began in agreement. "As soon as we get off of this place, it'll be mission clear!"  
"Oh I don't think so," Kincaid said angrily. "It's still one Ranger against the four of us."  
"I don't have time to deal with you. Surely you can understand," Keith said mockingly.  
"Don't insult me, Keith. Just turn her over and I'll spare you from becoming the first human to undergo open heart surgery without anaesthesia," Kincaid threatened. Alexa winced upon hearing Kincaid's graphic threat.  
"Are you stupid or do you just have a short-term memory?" Keith asked rudely. "I thought you couldn't be bothered to deal with another Ranger."  
"So that's the score, huh?" Sven asked abruptly, running over to Keith and Alexa. He faced Kincaid with a sarcastic smile on his face. "You really know how to treat a woman, Kincaid."  
"You again? This is the last thing I need!" Kincaid complained. "We don't have any Miniremos with us, so we'll just have to take care of you ourselves."  
"Enjoying this, I will be," Heath smirked. Sven squinted towards Alexa.  
"Alexa, follow Luxray and get on the boat," he whispered. Alexa looked towards him in horror.  
"What?!" she asked inaudibly.  
"I'll distract them; when I get the chance, I'll join you," Sven further explained in a quiet murmur.  
"B-but…"  
"Sven, what should I do?" Keith asked quietly. Sven looked towards him and instantly noticed Keith's bloodied shirt.  
"Get her to the boat when I say go," Sven finally answered quietly. He spotted the Miniremo ruins just behind Lavana and smirked. "I won't be long."  
"Are you sure?" Alexa quietly asked with worry. Sven nodded once.  
"Just trust me. I won't be long," he whispered reassuringly. He then faced Kincaid and the Sinis Trio.  
"I'll give you one last chance, Ranger," Kincaid sighed. "Turn Alexa over and I won't have to throw you or Keith into the ocean."  
"That won't be necessary, we'll be riding on it in a bit," Sven smirked. "GO!"

Luxray bolted towards the ladder leading towards the metal port down below. Keith instantly took hold of Alexa's right arm with his left hand and hurried after Luxray. Buizel followed him and Alexa, who appeared to be startled. Sven instantly ran towards the Sinis Trio.  
"Get her!" Kincaid instructed furiously. Ice ran after Alexa and Keith while Kincaid and Heath attempted to challenge Sven. Lavana scoffed and walked casually inside; she couldn't be bothered to give chase.  
Heath attempted to throw a punch at Sven, but Sven hopped backwards and ran to his left hand side, towards the Miniremo ruins. He picked up one of the remaining metal poles and part of the Miniremo base before he looked at the duo headed his way.  
"Come and get me, boys!" Sven taunted.

Luxray struggled down the ladder, but he jumped off of it and ran into the boat. He looked up at the ladder, and spotted Ice at the top.  
"Luxray!" he called. Confused, Keith and Alexa looked up at Ice; Alexa became timid and Keith became angry. As Alexa was lower down, he looked down at her confidently.  
"Just go, Alex!" Keith exclaimed.  
Alexa nodded once at him and she moved her feet off of the ladder, which allowed her to slide down the ladder freely. Alexa's feet landed on the metal port and she quickly ran into the boat with Luxray. Keith sighed with relief as he saw Alexa jumping into the boat.  
"She's safe…thank God…" he smiled. Alexa looked up at him and smiled as she saw Keith climbing down the ladder quickly. He started to run over to Alexa and the boat.  
"I wouldn't move any further if I were you," Ice said abruptly, sliding down the ladder. He approached Keith once his feet landed on the port. Keith, however, stood his ground and held out his arms protectively.  
"Back off," he threatened.  
"That's not in my best interest," Ice stated. He glanced at Alexa, who looked rather frightened. "Come with me, Alexa."  
"That's not in her best interest," Keith said sternly. Ice faced Keith with a smirk on his face.  
"What are you, her voice? I'm sure she can speak for herself," he laughed.  
"Especially now that she's actually free to do so!" Keith snapped. "Just leave her alone!"  
"Keith…"  
"Alex, stay in the boat!" Keith cautioned. "I can handle this." Buizel secretly ran towards the boat and jumped onto it.  
"You can handle it?" Ice asked teasingly.

**THUMP!**

"D'aaagh!" Ice punched the bleeding wound on Keith's chest. Keith moved his left hand to his chest; he found it slightly more difficult to breathe.  
"Keith!"  
"Stay…in the boat!" Keith said breathlessly.  
"Even now you strive to protect her," Ice sighed. "All the more reason to get rid of you then."  
"Yo, blue boy!" Sven called, sliding down the ladder. Ice turned to him sternly as Sven approached him.  
"What do you want?" Ice asked rudely. Keith seized the opportunity and staggered over to the boat. He stepped onto the boat carefully and approached Alexa.  
"You might want to help your friends; I think they're napping in the wrong place," Sven joked.  
Ice stared at Sven for a few second before he sighed heavily. He started to climb up the ladder leading to the upper deck. Sven ran towards the boat and jumped onto it.

"Everybody okay?" Sven asked as he made his way to the ship's controls.  
"I'm okay," Keith replied as he breathed deeply. He looked at Alexa with concern. "Alex? You okay?"  
"Huh?" Alexa looked up at him in confusion.  
"I said, are you okay?" Keith repeated his question worriedly.  
"I-I think so," Alexa answered; she sounded unsettled.  
"Okay, we're off back to Puel Town now," Sven stated. "Then we're headed straight for the Ranger Union!" He started the engine of the ship, and he started to sail away from the Oil Field Hideout.

_At the union…_

_What's taking so long?!_ Ryder asked anxiously, still pacing around the Operations room. _The suspense is killing me! I need to know if everyone's all right!_  
"Just calm down, Ryder, everything will be fine," Hastings said reassuringly. "Besides, it's Alexa; they'll be sure to maintain her safety at all costs."  
"Hey, Professor!" Sven greeted happily. Ryder and Hastings looked towards the escalator and saw Sven ascending. "Look who I bumped into!"  
Sven stepped aside as Keith entered the Operations room. Alexa slowly made her way up the escalator.  
_Alex…_ Ryder faced Alexa with tears streaming down his face, though his demeanour was unclear. Alexa looked at Ryder sadly.  
"Ryder…" Alexa also had tears streaming down her face. She and Ryder ran towards each other and held onto one another in a tight hug. "Ryder!" Alexa started to weep sorrowfully.  
_Alex! I'm so sorry about everything that's happened to you!_ Ryder wept. _I should've used Psychic on that Machamp! If I did that, then I would've been able to save you sooner!_  
"Please don't blame yourself!" Alexa cried. "I-I shouldn't have let my guard down! I'm the one who should apologise!"  
Ryder and Alexa released one another from their hug and looked into each other's eyes sadly; both of them still had tears in their eyes.  
_But I could've protected you, Alex,_ Ryder said tearfully. _I should have protected you, but I let my guard down, and it's my fault!_  
"I-it couldn't be helped…we both let our guard down," Alexa said sadly.  
"Alexa?" Rhythmi carefully approached Alexa. Alexa looked towards Rhythmi, still looking rather upset.  
"Rhythmi…!"  
"It's good to see you back safe and sound, Alexa," Rhythmi smiled sweetly. Alexa quickly flung her arms around Rhythmi and held onto her in a hug as she started to weep again. Rhythmi gently hugged her upset friend in return.  
"Poor Alexa…that Kincaid must've scared her quite a bit," Sven sighed. Alexa and Rhythmi released their hug as Alex looked towards Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma.  
"Welcome back, dear," Erma smiled lovingly.  
"I am relieved to see you unharmed, Alexa," Hastings said with relief. "Incidentally, was the ransom a bluff as Keith claimed?"  
"Yes," Alexa sighed sadly. "Kincaid…he said he couldn't be bothered to deal with anyone else."  
"How odd," Erma said in bewilderment.  
"But…why did he have to use you, Alexa?" Rhythmi asked with concern. Alexa looked away from everyone and closed her eyes, which released more tears.  
"Knowing my luck, I was probably the first Ranger Ice just happened to come across," she said sadly.  
"Alexa, that's no way to talk," Hastings advised. Alexa looked up at him in confusion; she found him smiling kindly at her. "Incidentally, the fact that you're unharmed is reason enough to celebrate."  
"You must have had a rough day, dear. Go to your room and try to get some rest," Erma advised. "And Keith? I suggest you pay Isaac a visit before you join her, dear."  
"Isaac's here?" Keith asked in bewilderment.

_Later…_

Alexa and Ryder sat on her freshly made duvet in a warm cuddle; neither appeared to be shedding tears, though both looked remorseful. Keith entered the room from the bathroom; he was topless, but bandages were wrapped around his chest. Ryder looked up at Keith before he smiled warmly at Alexa. He then hopped off of the bed and walked into the bathroom with Buizel, closing the door behind them. Keith approached Alexa carefully.  
"Alex? I know I've asked this a lot today, but…are you okay?" he asked with concern. Alexa looked up at him with tears in her eyes again. She sighed as she looked away from him.  
"I don't know if I should be," she confessed.  
"What do you mean?" Keith asked, sitting next to her.  
"Today was one of the worst days of my life…while I was stuck in that chair, I felt like I let everybody down," Alexa explained sadly. "I mean, I've had sand balls thrown at me, a melee with a shirtless foreigner, I've been on the wrong end of Garchomp's Brick Break, my knee slashed by a Scyther in the dark, another melee with the same shirtless foreigner, a thigh burn and a Focus Blast in my face, yet I lived to tell the tale! Two weeks later, I get kidnapped by a Tangrowth, a Pokémon you and I easily captured with our school stylers!" she ranted tearfully. "It just…it just makes me sick to think that someone who endured so much two weeks ago was easily restrained by a Tangrowth…"  
Keith shuffled slightly closer to Alexa and he rested his left arm around her shoulders and rested his hand on her left arm.  
"Hey…it's okay now, you're free from all of that," he said reassuringly.  
"I know…but…" Alexa struggled to talk clearly; she was too upset. "I…I was so scared today," she finally said. "I've only been that scared once before…"  
"During the Hippowdon Temple?" Keith asked curiously.  
"No…it was…before I met you," Alexa answered half-heartedly.  
"Oh."  
"Keith? If I explain it to you…will you keep it a secret?" Alexa asked reluctantly.  
"Of course! I won't say anything if you don't want me to," Keith nodded. Alexa took a deep breath.

Alexa began to tell her story to Keith. At first, the tale seemed to have started well; neither Alexa nor Keith had a change of reaction. However, as more of the story was told, Alexa gradually became more upset and Keith became more horrified. The story drew to its conclusion when Alexa buried her face in her hands and when Keith was left in devastation.

"Alex…I…I really don't know what I can say," Keith sighed regretfully. Alexa raised her head from her hands and looked up at the ceiling.  
"You don't have to say anything," she sighed. "Right about now, I just feel so relieved that I finally got to tell someone I know I can trust what I just told you."  
Keith used his right hand to gently draw Alexa closer to him. He held onto her in a secure yet light cuddle, with his right hand softly placed on her back.  
"I promise you, Alex…your secret's safe with me," he said tenderly. Alexa held onto him in return.  
"I know…I trust you."

_To be continued…_


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four – Rescue Kidnapped Riolu! **

Alexa approached a glass cabinet and opened the door, which revealed a shower. She was in a bathroom with yellow painted walls, with a white washbasin and the toilet opposite one another behind her. Her Ranger uniform was piled on top of the black footstool next to the toilet; Alexa had a large green towel wrapped around her entire body, underneath her arms. She entered the cubicle and closed the cloudy glass door a split second after she took off her towel and threw it at the washbasin. Her body was perfectly hidden behind the cloudy glass door, but her shoulders and her head could be seen over the door. She approached and twisted a dial on the shower, which released the running water from the showerhead above her. Steam was soon seen from within the small area, indicating the water to be hot. As the hot water made contact with her hair, her hairstyle faded. Her frills camouflaged themselves with the rest of her hair, and her fringe changed entirely; part of her fringe was elongated and narrowly exceeded her eyes, while the rest of her fringed veiled her forehead. She ran her hands down her hair, allowing the falling water to dampen her hair further. She turned her back on the shower dial and looked down slightly and stood there, looking saddened.

_"__If you see anybody from my Team Debonairs, ignore them. You'd do well to do so if you value Alexa's health."  
"A craven play…"  
"You coward!"  
"I wouldn't call it cowardice. I can't be bothered to deal with you, and holding your precious Alexa hostage will see to that."_

Alexa raised her hands slightly and looked at her wrists sadly. A faint pink mark was seen on both of her wrists.

_"__You're a stubborn little thing, aren't you?"  
"Wasn't that a bit extreme, boss? Slapping her like that?"_

Alexa lowered her right hand and carefully placed her left hand over her cheek. She appeared to be more upset than she was when she looked at her wrists.

_**BANG! **_

_"__AAGH!"  
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ms April, but I would like to speak to Keith."_

Tears started to fall down Alexa's face as she squinted to her right shoulder. The bruise that was on her right shoulder had virtually healed completely, though a faint black-purple mark could be seen where she touched her shoulder with her left hand. She moved her left hand over to her right forearm and her right hand over to her left forearm and held onto herself as she looked down with her eyes shut tightly. She lightly clenched her forearms as she gritted her teeth and her breathing became unsteady; she shivered slightly as she resisted the urge to cry.

_"__Someone will figure it out. Someone will figure out what I tried to say. Then they'll stop you."  
"You wish, Alexa,"  
"No. You know what I wish for? I wish I never knew you."_

"I wish…I never knew him…" Alexa whispered to herself sadly. Tears continued to fall down her face, but her tears became lost in the water that rained on her from the showerhead above.

_That night…_

**BDOOM! BDOOM!**

_The next morning, in Vien Town…_

Several residents stood outside and looked towards the eastern exit of the town with worry.

**BDOOM! BDOOM!**

"Oh, dear, it's that noise again! It's so loud I can hardly nap," an elderly woman complained.  
"It's coming from the Ranger School now," a younger woman stated. "I hope nothing's wrong." Crawford, Luana and Barlow exited the Ranger base and looked towards the school.  
"Those strange noises seem to be getting louder," Barlow assumed.  
"Crawford, why do you think it's a fireworks display?" Luana asked.  
"On second thought, there wouldn't be fireworks during the day," Crawford said casually.  
"The Union is sending Alexa to investigate the noises," Barlow stated. "So we should wait for her to arrive." Luana looked up and smiled.  
"Hi, Alexa!" she waved.

**STARR!**

Alexa, with her hair styled with three frills on either side of her head and her fringe styled in an "M" formation, and Ryder – both riding on a Staraptor – flew into Vien Town and jumped off when Staraptor flew over the Ranger base. Alexa quickly released the Staraptor with her styler and the Staraptor flew towards the Vien Forest.  
"What took you so long? You kept us waiting," Crawford said jokingly.  
"Quit that, Crawford," Barlow sighed. He faced Alex with a cheerful smile. "You got here quick, Alexa."  
_Staraptors are very speedy, so I think they deserve most of the credit,_ Ryder smiled.  
"We'll see to the safety of the citizens, you should investigate the explosion noise, Alexa," Barlow suggested.  
_I'll use my aura to find out what Alex and I need to deal with,_ Ryder volunteered as he knelt on one knee and rested his right paw on the grass in front of him. _Just so we're fully prepared,_ he added as he closed his eyes. His aura sensors rose seconds after his eyes closed.  
"I don't see the need to do that, Ryder," Alexa said quietly. "The school's not so far from here."  
_Huh!?_ Ryder lifted his head and opened his eyes in shock. _Alex…can…Riolu use Aura Sphere?_  
"Riolu?" Alexa asked in confusion.  
"You shouldn't make things up, Ryder," Crawford advised. Ryder looked up at Crawford, looking mildly annoyed.  
_My aura never lies to me! I know what I sensed!_ He growled. He turned to face Alexa. _Can Riolu use Aura Sphere?_  
"I've never known one that can, but I think I've read somewhere that about every one in 67,000 Riolu are born with the capability to use their aura prior to evolution," Alexa explained.  
"One in 67,000?" Luana asked in bewilderment.  
"So they're pretty common then," Crawford said sarcastically.  
"Still, I think you should head over to the school and find out," Barlow suggested.  
"On it; let's go, Ryder," Alexa smiled.  
_Right behind you,_ Ryder nodded. He and Alexa ran towards the eastern exit, out of Vien Town.

_At the Ranger School…_

"Buh!" A Riolu stood on the red roof of the Ranger School as it prepared an Aura Sphere in its paws. It pushed the Aura Sphere away from it.

**BDOOM!**

"Buh!" Riolu moved slightly and looked to its right hand side. It prepared and fired a second Aura Sphere.

**BDOOM!**

"Buh!" Riolu moved to its left and looked around. Alexa and Ryder arrived in the schoolyard and looked up at the roof.  
_Riolu! What're you doing up there?_ Ryder called. The Riolu on the roof looked down at Alexa and Ryder in confusion.  
"Buh!" Riolu jumped down from the roof and eventually made its way down onto the ground in front of the school building.  
_What were you doing all the way out here?_ Ryder asked softly. He crouched and held out his right paw in front of him. _Come on; let's get you somewhere that's safe, okay?_  
"Buh…" Riolu appeared to be cautious at first, but he started walking over to Ryder.  
"Okay, break it up!" called a rude male voice. A red haired man in Team Dim Sun admin attire jumped from the roof and landed between Ryder and Riolu. "We'll be taking this Riolu with us, thank you."  
"You guys again!?" Alexa exclaimed in anger. "Honestly, you guys are worse than Magikarp; you can never seem to stop bothering us!"  
"I don't see what comparing me to a Magikarp will do, but it won't help you," the admin huffed.  
_What do you want with Riolu anyway?_ Ryder asked sternly, standing up properly. The admin flushed out a Miniremo and set it up in front of him.  
"You see, not all of us were caught after Team Dim Sun disbanded," he began with a smirk. "And this Miniremo-"  
_Survived Operation Brighton's light, I know,_ Ryder sighed. _Thank you for telling us what we already know._  
"In other words…with this Miniremo and Riolu's powerful Aura Sphere, Team Dim Sun's revival is no mere dream," the admin declared.  
"What!?" Alexa gasped in horror. The admin typed into his Miniremo and two hypnotised Tangrowth rushed over to his side.  
"Take care of them," the admin said simply. The two Tangrowth approached Alexa and Ryder.  
"Oh joy. Capture on," Alexa effortlessly fired her capture disc at the Tangrowth; the capture disc spun around each Tangrowth only once before they were both caught. They fled the area after the Miniremo exploded. After a few seconds of silence, the admin sniggered.  
"I've lost the battle…but you lost the war," he smirked.  
"What're you-"  
"Riolu, come here," another man instructed. Alexa and Ryder looked to towards a set of steps to their right in confusion. Their confusion subsided and turned into horror.  
_No, Riolu!_ Ryder cried. Riolu was under hypnosis from a Miniremo unit a second Dim Sun admin had in front of him. The Riolu, under instruction, ran over to the second admin.

"Riolu!" Alexa cried as she started to run after Riolu. The first admin intercepted her and tightly clenched her forearms. "Ow!"  
"We'll be taking that Riolu with us," the admin jeered. "With that Riolu, there won't be anything that can stop us from resurrecting Team Dim Sun."

**THUMP!**

"Aagh!" The admin punched Alexa in her left eye and forced her to the ground.  
_Alex!_ Ryder ran over to Alexa in horror and knelt next to her as he faced her with concern. The admin ran over to his partner while Alexa recuperated.  
"Get back here!" Alexa shouted as she forced herself onto her feet. She and Ryder raced after the Dim Sun admins.  
"You take care of the Ranger, I'll sort things out back at headquarters," the first admin said as one of the two hypnotised Drifblim lifted him up from the ground.  
"Riolu, give them a taste of your Aura Sphere," the second admin commanded as he typed into his Miniremo.  
"Buh!" Riolu formed an Aura Sphere in its paws and fired it at Alexa and Ryder just as they arrived at the top of the steps.

**CRASH!**

"D'AAH!" Alexa and Ryder were both hit with the Aura Sphere and the fell down the steps behind them. They crashed into the ground beneath the steps and lay unconscious at the bottom of the hill.

_…__wh-where is this? Is this a dream?_

"Buh!"

_…__Riolu? Is that you?_

"Buh!"

_…__Riolu, wh-where are you? No! Don't go!_

"Buh!"

_Wait, Riolu! No! Riolu!_

…

"Alex! Ryder! Come on, wake up!"

Alexa and Ryder gradually regained consciousness; they found themselves lying on the floor of the Vien Town Ranger base. Ryder hopped up onto his feet while Alexa just sat up. Alexa rubbed the back of her head with her right hand.  
"Ow…what hit me?" she asked. Ryder looked around in confusion.  
_How did we get here?_ He asked.  
"Crawford and I brought you two back," Barlow answered. "After Crawford came back from patrolling around Chicole Village, we were worried about what happened to you, so we went to the Ranger School."  
"We found you two out cold, so we carried you here," Crawford continued. "I carried you, Ryder, and Barlow carried Alexa."  
"Are you okay?" Elaine asked with concern.  
"I think so. But, Riolu…some remaining members from Team Dim Sun took control over him," Alexa sighed.  
"Don't worry, we and the union are doing everything we can to locate Riolu," Barlow said reassuringly.  
_Under normal circumstances, I'd use my aura to do so,_ Ryder began. _But that won't be necessary._  
"How come?" Alexa asked, looking up at him.  
_Because Riolu somehow spoke to me through his aura, _Ryder answered. _Oh, and by the way, yes, Riolu did use Aura Sphere on us._  
"I know Lucario can use Aura Sphere, since you know it, obviously, Ryder. Sorry I doubted you," Crawford apologised.  
_Anyway, Riolu spoke to me while I was zonked out,_ Ryder continued. _He described where he was as being dark and underneath the ocean…_  
"In a Wailord's belly?" Crawford asked jokingly.  
"I'm sure that's a good place to hold Riolu hostage, provided that they don't mind being digested in the process," Luana sighed.  
_He also described it as a building that smells of oil,_ Ryder continued.  
"That must be the Oil Field Hideout!" Elaine exclaimed.  
"Whuh…?!" Alexa quietly gasped in extreme horror upon hearing the location.  
"Why would they want to go there again?" Crawford asked.  
_It's of no surprise to me, really, _Ryder shrugged. _When we confronted Kincaid on top of the Altru Tower, he used a Miniremo unit to control a Drapion and Gliscor._  
Alexa silently placed her hands on her head and closed her eyes tightly as she looked down; she became scared upon hearing Kincaid's name.  
_I really should've known that Operation Brighton hadn't killed off all of the Miniremo units as we climbed up the tower, _Ryder sighed. Barlow suddenly noticed Alexa wincing in fear.  
"Alexa? You okay?" he asked. Ryder, Crawford, Luana and Elaine looked towards her in confusion. Ryder knelt next to her and lightly held onto her.  
_Alex, snap out of it,_ he said softly.  
"Alexa!" Barlow said loudly.  
"Huh?!" Alexa quickly looked up at Barlow, startled at the loud outburst.  
"You okay?" Barlow asked with concern.  
"About…?"  
"Do you need an aspirin?" Crawford asked.  
"What for?" Alexa asked towards Crawford.  
"The migraine."  
"Crawford, I don't have a migraine, I'm fine," Alexa laughed nervously. Barlow approached her and held out his left hand out at her. Alexa took hold of his hand and she helped herself up slowly.  
"Your hand tells me otherwise," Barlow said worriedly. "You're shaking like a leaf; what's the matter?" he asked as he gently released Alexa's hand. "You haven't said a word since we spoke of the Oil Field Hideout."  
"Uh…" Alexa subtly recoiled upon hearing of the Oil Field Hideout again. Crawford looked mildly shocked; he noticed. "N-no, I'm okay. I'm just worried for Riolu, th-that's all…"  
_Then let's stop worrying about him and save him!_ Ryder exclaimed eagerly. Alexa looked towards him with a false smile.  
"Right!" she nodded. She and Ryder ran out of the Ranger base. Crawford approached Barlow.

"Did you see her, Barlow?" he asked. "When you mentioned the Oil Field Hideout, she winced."  
"I know; I noticed," Barlow said worriedly. "It's not like her to be so…timid."  
"It's almost as if she's scared of the place," Elaine assumed. Barlow took his styler from his belt and held it in front of him.  
"And it's not like her to be so secretive either," he added, establishing a contact with his styler.

_Meanwhile…_

**STARR! **

A Staraptor flew over the Oil Field Hideout port, and Alex and Ryder jumped off of its back, landing successfully on the port. Alexa released the Staraptor with her styler and it flew back towards the mainland.  
_Alex, are you absolutely sure you don't want to call Keith?_ Ryder asked with concern.  
"Why would I need to?" Alexa asked nervously. She was clearly shivering with fright.  
_You were being held hostage here yesterday; are you sure you don't want to ask Keith to help you through this?_ Ryder asked.  
"I'm fine!" Alexa cried. "I can get through this! I need to get over what happened yesterday, and I can't do that if I ask Keith to escort me through this place!"  
_Ah. I should've known you'd say that,_ Ryder smiled. Alexa looked down at him in confusion.  
"What?"  
_You don't remember?_ Ryder asked, looking up at her. _You winced when Cynthia spoke of the Spear Pillar just before our battle. After our victory over her, you decided to visit the Spear Pillar in hopes that you'd get over what happened there. We made it there, looked around for about half an hour before you finally let go of your fear of the place._  
"We did that?" Alexa asked in bewilderment.  
_We did indeed,_ Ryder smiled. Alexa looked up at the upper deck of the Oil Field Hideout.  
"Well then…let's do it again, for Riolu's sake," she nodded.  
_Righty-o!_ Ryder and Alexa ran towards the ladder and looked up. They faced one another before Alexa allowed Ryder to climb onto her shoulders. Ryder sat on her shoulders comfortably as Alexa climbed up the ladder.

A lone Dim Sun minion stood on the helipad and looked out towards the horizon. She turned towards the ladder just in time to see Ryder slowly ascending. The minion then saw Alexa climbing up from the ladder.  
"A Ranger?! Uh, we're only cosplaying as Team Dim Sun, there's nothing illegal going on here," she stuttered as she ran away from the deck. Ryder climbed down from Alex's shoulders.  
_Tauros crap. Next thing they'll tell us is that Riolu isn't here,_ he sighed.  
"But we know he is," Alexa added. "I just hope that…Kincaid…isn't here…"  
_Okay, Alex, if we see any sign of Kincaid or the Sinis Trio, you'll contact Keith and ask for his help. Deal?_ Ryder asked.  
"If you want," Alexa sighed. She and Ryder ran inside the hideout.

_Inside…_

Alexa and Ryder exited from the elevator and ran out into the dark teal corridor. They avoided the wild Houndour and Houndoom, only to confront a Dim Sun minion with a Miniremo and a hypnotised Jolteon and Luxray.  
"We knew you were coming, Ranger," the minion smirked. "So that's one Lucario and one girl…that's not much, is it?"  
"Don't be fooled into thinking you've got the upper hand," Alexa said strictly. "I'll have you know that Ryder and I are a great combination!"  
_Well spoken, my friend, _Ryder nodded.  
"Big deal; I still won't let you interfere with our plans to resurrect Team Dim Sun," the minion sighed as he typed into his Miniremo.  
"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc before Luxray and Jolteon had the chance to even move. With Luxray and Jolteon distracted, Ryder ran over to the Miniremo. He dived towards it with his mouth wide open, revealing his sharp fangs.

**CRASH! **

Ryder bit the Miniremo with his jaws. The strength of his bite was incredible; he literally bit the Miniremo in half, with some remains in his mouth. He spat the remains out of his mouth as Jolteon and Luxray fled.  
"Dammit. You won't stop Team Dim Sun from being reborn!" the minion vowed as he fled, running passed Alexa.

**THUMP! **

"D'oof…!" Alexa held out her left fist at her side, which collided with the minion's stomach as he ran passed. The minion fell to the ground, and Alexa and Ryder ran onwards.

_Later…_

Alexa and Ryder entered a purple/magenta corridor and spotted the minion they saw at the helipad outside speaking to the admins with Riolu.  
"Minion reporting! A Ranger and a Lucario have infiltrated headquarters," the minion stated.  
"You had a head start, how come we caught up with you?" Alexa asked rhetorically as she and Ryder approached the minion.  
"Aah, a Ranger!" the minion screamed as she turned to face Alexa. "I'll take care of you!" she vowed as she set up a Miniremo unit. The Miniremo became enveloped in a cyan aura before it suddenly collapsed. Ryder glared at the minion with his eyes and paws glowing in the same light.  
_I think not; I can't be dealing with dead weight,_ he sighed. The minion ran off in fear. The admins watched her leave.  
"How about that? After the trouble of recruiting her, she turns out to be worthless," the first admin complained.  
"Back to square one, I gather," Alexa assumed sarcastically as she and Ryder confronted the admins.  
_Release Riolu this minute!_ Ryder demanded. _Or else feel the power of Aura Sphere from one very angry Lucario!_  
"Riolu, give them another Aura Sphere sleeping pill!" the second admin instructed as he typed into his Miniremo.  
_Riolu, fight back!_ Ryder pleaded. _You're stronger than they are, I know you can break loose!_  
"No amount of hollering will save you, Lucario," the first admin laughed.  
"Buh!" Riolu formed an Aura Sphere in his paws. He fired it towards Ryder.  
"Get back!" Alexa cried as she pulled Ryder away from Aura Sphere's trajectory.

**BDOOM! **

After a moment of silence, Alexa and Ryder looked around them after they held onto one another.  
"Oh great! I can hardly see a thing in this darkness!" Alexa complained; the entire corridor suffered a blackout.  
_Relax; I can use my aura to guide us through the corridor,_ Ryder said calmly. He gently took hold of Alexa's right hand with his left paw. Alexa held onto his paw.  
"We'll need to, Ryder; I can hardly see my hand in front of my face in this darkness," Alexa said timidly.  
_Alex, are you all right?_ Ryder asked with concern.  
"I-I just feel more vulnerable here," Alexa admitted.  
_In case Kincaid tries to ambush us? Please, with those shades of his, he'd be blind in this darkness!_ Ryder laughed. _Come on, let's go._  
"Lead the way," Alexa nodded. Ryder led Alexa around the corridor, hand in paw. The two eventually came across an open doorway, and they walked through it.

Alexa and Ryder entered through the door to their left and ran along the underwater tube. Alex suddenly stopped and looked around the tube. Ryder stopped and faced her with concern.  
_What's wrong?_  
"This is…where we first heard Heath," Alexa said timidly. "Great…another reason why I'm afraid of this place; this was where the Yellow Gem Deceit started."  
_You can't seriously tell me you're still blaming yourself for what happened, are you?_Ryder asked worriedly.  
"I still have this feeling that it's my fault!" Alexa exclaimed. "If we hadn't wasted all that time in Altru Park, we could've done the mission with Sven earlier, thus we could've gotten to Keith before he was kidnapped!" she cried, collapsing onto her knees in despair. "I should've listened to you, Ryder, we should've left when Blake showed up!"  
_Hey, I wanted to leave because I was bored, _Ryder sighed as he approached Alexa. _Besides, Keith doesn't blame you for what happened._  
"Huh?" Alexa looked up at Ryder in confusion; he smiled down at her warmly. He gently rested his left paw on her left cheek.  
_But you need to forgive yourself for what happened,_ he advised softly. He soon lost his smile and looked worried. _If you can't forgive yourself for what happened there, you'll never be able to put it behind you. I realised that last night._  
"Last night?"  
_I realised that I worried about you more than I normally do because I felt responsible for what happened,_Ryder explained. _Thus, I couldn't get to sleep because I felt guilty about letting Ice get you. So, I gave it some thought, and I realised that if I were to forget about what happened, I needed to forgive myself, so I did before I finally got to sleep. I forgave myself for yesterday, Alex; you need to do the same for what you thought was your fault at the Hippowdon Temple._  
"I…I don't know if I can," Alexa confessed sadly.  
_Well…we can worry about it later then,_ Ryder smiled. _Because right now, there's a young Riolu in the room ahead of us, and he needs help. Are you with me?_  
"Of course I'm with you!" Alexa exclaimed keenly. "I'm not about to let that little Riolu become a mind slave!"  
_All right; then let's spin those admins right round like a record, baby!_ Ryder encouraged. Alexa quickly stood up from the floor and nodded at Ryder with a smile of determination.  
"Right round-round-round," she added teasingly. She and Ryder ran into the room ahead of them.

_Inside…_

"Stop right there! Even though there's no way for all of you to escape!" Alexa exclaimed as she faced the two admins with Riolu.  
"You won't stop us, Ranger. And we can't let you leave either; you know too much about our plan to resurrect Team Dim Sun," the first admin said sternly.  
"Shame; looks like I'll have to stop you here and now then," Alexa sighed sarcastically. "And we'll save Riolu in the process, you just see if we don't!"  
"Speaking of Riolu… Riolu, subdue them!" the second admin instructed. Ryder looked towards Riolu fretfully.  
_Riolu, snap out of their control!_ Ryder pleaded. _Open your eyes to what you're doing, Riolu, please!_  
"Save it, Lucario, calling out to Riolu is pointless," the first admin scoffed. Ryder glared at them before he looked back at Riolu fearfully.  
_Riolu, please, I beg of you! _He pleaded as his aura sensors rose. _Listen to my aura if you have to, Riolu, just SNAP OUT OF IT!_  
"…Buh!" Riolu, though still technically under hypnosis, looked around in confusion.  
"Riolu, I command you to use Aura Sphere!" the second admin fumed as he typed into his Miniremo again.  
"Buh!" Riolu continued to look around in confusion.  
"Ryder, it's working! Riolu's conflicting!" Alexa exclaimed cheerfully.  
_Alex, please, hurry and catch Riolu with your styler!_ Ryder begged. _I don't know how long it may be before Riolu loses his senses again!_  
"Worry not, this won't take long. Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc at Riolu, and her capture disc started to circle around him.  
"Buh!" Out of confusion, Riolu fired a total of five Aura Spheres around the room. Alexa and Ryder dodged these, as did Alexa's capture disc. "Buh!" Riolu tried to throw a punch at the capture disc, but the capture disc masterfully dodged and continued to circle around Riolu. As she controlled her capture disc, Alexa looked around worriedly.  
Where were Kincaid and the Sinis Trio? Alexa looked back at Riolu as she properly controlled her capture disc with her right hand; as she attempted to capture Riolu, she began to consider that perhaps it wasn't her present location that she was afraid of, but rather the people who imprisoned her there.

After a short while, the white circle of light enveloped around Riolu, and the Miniremo that controlled Riolu exploded into nothing. Riolu looked around in confusion.  
_Riolu!_ Ryder exclaimed happily. _Oh, thank Arceus, I was so worried about you!_  
"Buh?" Riolu faced Ryder in confusion. His confusion subsided as a smile made its way on his face. "Buh!" Riolu ran over to Ryder and leapt into his arms. Ryder happily held onto the happy Riolu.  
"Oh, no, we're done for!" the first admin cried.  
"Quick, let's get out of here!" the second admin suggested fearfully as he and his partner ran towards a newly placed submarine. Ryder and Riolu faced one another with a mutual smirk; together, Ryder and Riolu formed an Aura Sphere in between their right paws, and they pushed it towards the submarine.

**BDOOM! **

"Aiyeeeeee!" The explosion that resulted from the Aura Sphere's contact with the submarine startled the two admins.  
"L-let's go the other way!" the first admin suggested. He and his partner ran passed Alexa, Ryder and Riolu and headed for the door. The door opened however, and the two men froze with fright.  
"Hey, Alexa!" Sven smiled. The two admins ran towards the wall on either side of the door and stood against them, both with fright.  
"Sven! What brings you here?" Alexa asked, facing him in confusion.  
"Professor Hastings, actually; apparently, Barlow was concerned about you, so he told Professor Hastings about it; he then sent me over to help you out," Sven explained. "Guess you don't really need it, though," he teased, looking back at the two admins. He then approached the two admins.  
"Barlow was concerned about me?" Alexa asked in confusion. "What did he say to Professor Hastings?" Sven quickly held the two admins by the backs of their collars and faced Alexa, looking concerned.  
"Barlow didn't have any idea about what happened yesterday; he said he noticed you cringing with fright," he answered.  
_You said, "didn't",_ Ryder noticed. _Don't tell me…_  
"Yep; Professor Hastings explained everything he knows to Barlow," Sven sighed. "And I've got to be honest, Alexa; he was virtually speechless after Professor Hastings finished explaining it."  
"I…I see," Alexa looked away from Sven slightly, looking ashamed of herself. "I didn't even know that…Barlow didn't know…"  
"Come on; let's get back to the union, eh?" Sven smiled reassuringly. He pushed the admins out of the room and exited. Alexa and Ryder, who still had Riolu in his arms, followed him.

_At the union…_

"Well, that was certainly an interesting mission," Hastings commented. He, Sven, Wendy, Erma, Alexa, Ryder, Riolu, Keith and Buizel were all gathered around in the Operations Room.  
"I guess those Team Dim Sun criminals wanted Riolu for his special rare quality," Erma assumed.  
"Still, Riolu's safe," Wendy smiled, looking towards the Riolu happily settled in Ryder's arms. Keith looked towards Ryder happily.  
"Looks like Riolu's taken a liking to you," he observed.  
_As have I to him,_ Ryder smiled.  
"Buh!" Riolu nodded.  
"They look like brothers," Sven chuckled. "Oh, by the way, what are we to do with Riolu anyway?"  
"Buh?" Riolu looked towards Sven in confusion.  
"Well, I know several Pokémon Trainers I trust," Hastings began. He looked towards Alexa with a smile. "Including Alexa."  
"Huh?" Alexa faced him in confusion.  
"Ryder is your own Pokémon, is he not?" Hastings queried.  
"Y-yes…but what does that have to do with…?"  
"Why don't you let Riolu stay with you?" Hastings asked.  
"Buh?!" Riolu looked towards Hastings in shock.  
_Really?!_ Ryder asked excitedly.  
"That is, of course, if Alexa is happy to raise a second Riolu," Hastings continued. Alexa looked away from Hastings, looking rather upset.  
"I wouldn't dare refuse," she said quietly.  
_Yay!_ Ryder cheered.  
"Buh!" Riolu rejoiced.  
"But…why're you so sad?" Wendy asked. "Did something happen at the Oil Field Hideout?" Sven, Hastings, Erma, Ryder, Riolu, Keith and Buizel faced Alexa in confusion; she was looking away from everybody, and still looked sad.  
"Were you alright there? Did anyone hurt you?" Keith asked.  
"Not at the hideout, no," Alexa said quietly. "But…that's not the issue…"  
"Then what is, dear?" Erma asked kindly.  
"Professor? May I ask a question?" Alexa asked nervously.  
"Of course you can! What would you like to ask me?" Hastings questioned. Alexa looked directly at him; she appeared to be frightened.  
"What happened to Kincaid?" she asked fearfully.

Erma, Hastings, Sven, Wendy, Ryder, Keith and Buizel all faced Alexa in horror. Riolu just faced her in confusion.  
"Why on earth would you want to know about him?!" Sven asked in revulsion. Alexa looked away from everyone, looking distraught.  
"And the Sinis Trio; what became of them?" Alexa added tearfully. "I need to know!" Hastings carefully approached Alexa, looking concerned.  
"Alexa, what is all of this about?" he asked. Alexa looked straight at Hastings, looking traumatised.  
"Please; I need to know, and don't lie to me!" she pleaded. "I need to know the truth!" she cried. Hastings sighed remorsefully as he turned his back on her.  
"I sincerely have no idea how to say this to you, Alexa. But…Kincaid…he escaped," he answered reluctantly.  
_No…!_ Ryder gasped in horror. Alexa looked away from him, instantly disheartened and distressed. Tears started to fall down her face and her breathing became panicky.  
"After Sven reported that you and Keith were safely off of the hideout, I sent another Top Ranger there to apprehend Kincaid and the Sinis Trio," Hastings continued as he turned around to face Alexa; he instantly showed his concern when he noticed Alexa's ordeal, as had everyone around her. "Unfortunately, there was no trace of Kincaid or of the Sinis Trio. I'm afraid they're all still at large. I'm so very sorry, Alexa."  
"If I may ask, dear; why did you want to know?" Erma asked worriedly.  
"I realised…that it wasn't the place I feared…!" Alexa began tearfully. Her fists were clenched and they clearly shook, which indicated Alexa's fright. "It was them…! Although…it's mostly Kincaid…!"  
"Kincaid scares you?" Wendy asked softly.  
"I'm not surprised, actually; Kincaid did threaten to make Keith the first person to go through open heart surgery without anaesthesia," Sven explained.  
"That's not it…! As graphic as it sounded, I was scared of him before all that!" Alexa cried.  
"Alexa, be truthful about this; how long have you been afraid of Kincaid?" Hastings asked worriedly.  
Alexa was silent at first. She tried to compose herself and her emotions, but her efforts were aimless as more tears fell down her face.  
"Since I first saw his face! At the Ranger School!" she cried sorrowfully. Her answer horrified everyone around her. "Even before I knew he was a criminal, I was afraid of him! I can't explain why!"  
"Alex…didn't…when he…held you hostage…didn't that…?" Keith asked worriedly.  
"No! It didn't help the fact that I was scared of him to begin with!" Alexa cried. "I-I don't know why I'm afraid of him, I just am!" she wept.  
"Alexa…today has been utterly cruel to you. I sincerely apologise for putting you up on a mission after what happened yesterday," Hastings apologised. Ryder looked up at him sincerely.  
_Don't apologise; nobody knew that we'd need to go back there,_ he said truthfully.  
"Alexa…you should get some rest, dear," Erma said sweetly. Alexa momentarily calmed down to face Erma, though she still looked saddened. "You were very brave to take on your mission despite what transpired a mere 24 hours ago. You can be proud of yourself, Alexa."

_To be continued…_


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 – Pledge To Love!**

_Alexa's POV_

Keith and I sat on his bed quietly in our bedroom at the Ranger Union. He had his arms around me, like mine were around him. Buizel, Ryder and Kyle, the Riolu Ryder and I rescued a week ago, were on my bed, fast asleep. I glanced over at them and smiled; Ryder and Kyle looked so adorable, huddling up to one another, like siblings. I could feel Keith stroking my hair gently as I continued to watch Ryder sleep. It was because of him Keith and I became closer than friends. Even now, I can't believe that my feelings for Keith weren't completely clear. But, thanks to Ryder's help, according to Keith, my feelings were clearer than the Luminous Crystal. And I can remember how it happened just as clearly.

It all started a week after Ryder and I rescued Kyle from Dim Sun – or Debonairs, or whatever the hell you call them now – after they tried to exploit his ability to use aura. Ryder actually decided to stay behind and let Kyle get some experience as my partner Pokémon. Kyle and I were in the Vien Forest, on our way to pay Barlow another visit. I looked over at Kyle, who was happily settled on my right shoulder.  
"Are you sure you don't want to take a rest and let Ryder tag along with me?" I asked him. Kyle looked towards me with his adorable smile.  
"Buh!" he nodded. I smiled towards him and nodded in return.  
"Okay, if you're sure about that. You know you can just let me know if you want to take a rest, don't you?"  
"Buh!" Kyle nodded. With another nod from me, I continued towards Vientown. I was looking forward to seeing Barlow again.  
"Hey, Alexa!" Speak of the devil; I heard Barlow calling me. Kyle and I watched as Barlow and Makuhita approached us. They both looked as energetic as ever. Kyle hopped off of my shoulder and instantly interacted with Makuhita. "Fancy seeing you down here! Where're you off to?"  
"Actually, we were on our way to visit you and the others," I laughed. "Besides, I thought you'd might like to see how Kyle's doing after last week." Barlow looked down at Kyle, who was happily chatting with Makuhita. Makuhita also appeared to be having a good time.  
"Yep, I can say he's doing well. Not that I'm surprised; he's under your care now, Alexa," Barlow nodded. He looked towards me; much to my confusion, Barlow had lost his smile. "What about you? You did rescue Kyle a day after you yourself were rescued. You okay?"  
"Um…y-yeah, I think so," I said nervously. To be honest, I hadn't thought of what happened to me since the day after Kyle was left in my care. Ryder and I were so busy taking care of Kyle, what happened to me the day before we met Kyle had completely slipped my mind; I wasn't even sure if my answer was truthful.  
"Look, I'm worried about you; I've heard Kincaid's still out there somewhere and you took it pretty badly. Maybe you should take some time off," Barlow suggested with concern. I shook my head.  
"If Operation Brighton never stopped me from getting back on my feet, I'll be damned if I let Kincaid's cheap stunt keep me down," I said firmly. Asking for time off, to me, meant I'd be giving into submission. It's not my style to give into anything; I was not that kind of girl.  
"Well put," Barlow smiled. "Hey, let's get back to Vientown; no doubt Crawford and Luana will want to see how you're doing."  
"Cool," I smiled. Kyle, Makuhita and I followed Barlow out of the Vien Forest.

The trip to Vientown gave me time to think about what Kincaid put me through. I wasn't thinking of the ambush, nor did the fake ransom demand cross my mind. No. I was thinking of how I felt after Keith saved me. I mean, I knew he's my best friend, but how I felt after Keith saved me. That's what confused me. I've never been so open around anyone before, not even my little brother, Keenan. My Pokémon don't even know all of the crap I've been through over the years; only a select few know completely, including Phoenix, my Charizard, and Ryder. I knew I could talk to anyone at the Union about my problems…but why was I most comfortable talking to Keith? But one question ultimately floated around my mind; how does he feel about me?

When I snapped out of my train of thought, I suddenly realised we were in the Vientown Ranger base. I was shocked; it felt like it was only a few seconds ago that Barlow and I were talking in the forest. Much to my relief, we had just walked inside; I was relieved that I hadn't been staring into space for five minutes in the base. Crawford and Luana approached us.  
"Hey, look who I found!" Barlow chuckled.  
"Yo, Alex! You doing okay?" Crawford asked. I nodded towards him.  
"Yeah, I'm okay," I replied. "I'm glad Kyle's safe now."  
"Kyle, eh? That's the nickname you gave him? How quaint," Crawford said as he watched Kyle talking with Budew and Buneary, as well as Makuhita.  
"How's Keith? We heard he got hurt when he rescued you," Luana said worriedly. I winced slightly; the moment she referenced was, in fact, my least favourite part of the whole experience, along with Ryder's brutal beating when Ice first kidnapped me. Even though it would be wrong to have a favourite part of something so traumatising.  
"He's doing fine, as far as I'm aware," I said quietly. "He has scars on his chest, but they're nothing gruesome."  
"I'm impressed that he was able to see his mission through in spite of his pain," Barlow smiled.  
"Of course he did! I wouldn't be surprised if he rescued our Alex because he's secretly in love with her!" Crawford laughed. Luana smiled sweetly.  
"Oh, how romantic!" she exclaimed.  
"Hey, hey, don't go overboard," Barlow laughed.

What Crawford said…it made me think. Was Keith actually in love with me? What about me? Do I feel the same way? Keith's not shown any signs of a crush. Neither have I. No, wait…I think I have…When Keith held my hand as he challenged Kincaid and the Sinis Trio on his own, I blushed! Didn't I? I felt warm, but…what was that feeling?

"Leave it out, Crawford, he was just being a friend," I sniggered. "But, still…I'm glad Ryder was able to recover from his onslaught."

What I said…was I denying myself the possibility that Crawford could be right about Keith? I knew Crawford would say he was joking, as usual, but still…given how I've felt around Keith as of late…is it true?

It was pretty late in the evening by the time Kyle and I returned to the Union. I entered my bedroom and sighed as I closed the door behind me; my visit to the Vientown Ranger base was fantastic, but thinking about my bond with Keith worried me. Were we actually friends? Or was there…something deeper between us.  
_Are you going to stand there all evening?_ I heard Ryder talking to me as he entered the room. Kyle instantly leapt towards him and cuddled him. Ryder smiled down at Kyle and held onto him.  
"Sorry, Ryder…I've…just got a lot on my mind, that's all," I said quietly. I really did have a lot on my mind. I didn't even know what was what.  
_Have you tried talking to Keith about it?_ Ryder asked as he sat on my bed with Kyle. I sighed.  
"I would do if I knew where he is," I replied sternly as I looked around. I suddenly noticed Buizel sitting on Keith's bed; he looked up at me with a smile as he held a folded up piece of paper in his mouth. I was intrigued at what Buizel held and I approached the bed. Buizel approached me and dropped the note in front of me before he returned to where he sat. I picked up the note and looked at it curiously.  
_Open it, Alex, it's not a ransom note,_ Ryder laughed. I glared at him briefly before I looked towards the note. I unfolded it and read the words written on it.

_Alex,_

_I need to talk to you about something. Meet me at the Pledge Stone in the school's Ascension Square at 10 tonight. Come alone, it's private._

_Keith_

I looked at Keith's note in confusion; why did he want to meet me at the Pledge Stone? I felt nervous.  
_I think you should meet him,_ Ryder advised. _Who knows? Maybe he'll help you with whatever's on your mind._  
"Maybe," I said quietly.

At the arranged time of 10pm, I left the Union on my own and made my way to the Ranger School. I had to climb over the school gates, but I got there eventually. I made my way to the Ascension Square and I found Keith looking up at the Pledge Stone. I approached him cautiously.  
"Keith?"  
"Huh?" Keith looked towards me and saw me coming. He smiled. "Hey, you made it!"  
"Sorry if I'm a little late; I had troubles climbing over the gate," I said sheepishly.  
"I had a few troubles myself," Keith chuckled. He sighed as he looked up at the Pledge Stone. I looked up at it too; it reminded me of the pledges Keith, Rhythmi and I made on the day we met.  
"So…what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked nervously.  
"First off…how are you feeling?" Keith asked as he looked towards me with concern. I looked towards him in confusion.  
"What, after last week?" I questioned. "Or…just in general?"  
"Whatever," Keith shrugged. "I wasn't being specific."  
"Well…after last week, I think I'm okay," I said shakily. I didn't like to recall that situation. "But in general, I'm fine."  
"Good," Keith smiled.  
"What about you? Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.  
"Yeah. Aside from my scars, I'm happy knowing you're all right," Keith replied. I looked away from him as I sighed.  
"Yeah, I'm…I'm sorry you had to get hurt," I said sadly. "I didn't want you to get hurt."  
"Hey…it was either me or you. I think I made the right choice," Keith said reassuringly. I felt him gently tilting my head up to look into my eyes. "You had suffered enough." He lowered his hand away from my face. "But that's not what I want to talk to you about."  
"Hm? Then what is it you do want to talk about?" I asked in confusion. Keith looked away from me and rubbed the back of his neck with his left arm; he was nervous, I could tell.  
"Uh…it's not going to be easy to say…because I don't know about how you feel," he said timidly.  
"I told you, I'm fine, generally," I said casually.  
"No, that's not what I meant," Keith said quickly. "But…I want to ask you something…what do you think of our friendship?"

I was astonished to hear Keith's question. I didn't know what he was playing at, but he should have known how I felt about our friendship.

"I cherish it!" I stated clearly. "Keith, how can you ask me such a thing?!" Keith looked towards me nervously.  
"I don't want to lose it," he answered quietly.  
"We won't lose it, don't worry," I smiled reassuringly. "What makes you think we'll lose our friendship?"  
"Because…because I want to be more than your friend, Alex," Keith said shyly.

I was confused. I didn't understand what Keith was trying to tell me. But, for some reason, I was nervous myself.

"Alex…do you know what I'm trying to say?" Keith asked reluctantly. I looked away from him, but only to ponder; what was he trying to tell me? I sighed; I had no clue. I lowered my head slightly as I closed my eyes softly.  
"Sorry," I said quietly. I moved my head towards Keith slightly. "I don't know what-"

I suddenly Keith's lips softly pressed against mine. I felt as though my heart stopped beating until Keith gently moved away from me. I couldn't believe it. I felt…strange…it was as if my breath was literally taken from me, and my heart kept missing a beat. Yet, I felt a certain warmth…a familiar warmth.

"It didn't occur to me until recently," Keith said softly. I looked up at him and found him smiling warmly at me. "I've been thinking about our friendship lately. And about all of the times I've hugged you and stuff. I was thinking about why I've been hugging you in the past, and it actually got me thinking about how I feel about you."

I wanted to ask him what he meant, but…that kiss…it left me totally speechless.

"I've been asking myself why I felt so upset as I left for Fiore, why I felt warm and happy when I saw you standing next to me when we became Top Rangers…why I hugged you so suddenly during Operation Brighton…that sort of thing," Keith explained. "And after we found out Kincaid was holding you hostage, I…I felt scared…a bit. Don't get me wrong, I was scared for you, but I would have been entirely scared for you had it not been for the fact that I was confused about why I was scared for you."

What Keith said made sense, I thought. I've wondered why I felt so upset after he was blown off of the roof of Altru Inc.

"So, I've been thinking about it all week," Keith added. "And…to be honest, I don't know what other explanation there could be. I love you."

Those words…they startled me. It was as if I finally knew the answers to all of the questions I've been asking myself lately.

"But…I don't know how you feel about me," Keith sighed as he lost his smile. "So if you just want us to be friends, I can live with that. I just don't want to lose you." I looked down for a moment. I nodded before I looked up at Keith.  
"You won't," I said quietly.  
"Huh?"  
"Everything you just said…it makes perfect sense to me," I explained. "But…it also gave me time to think."  
"About…?" Keith asked reluctantly.  
"My perspective on the matter," I replied. "All this time…I thought…we were just best friends. But…I've been thinking about why I felt so upset after you were blown off of Altru Inc's roof…and basically everything you just said. And that kiss…"  
"I know, I know…too sudden," Keith sighed.  
"It was, but that's not the point," I said quietly. "It…it made everything clear to me. I must have been oblivious to your feelings all this time. As well as my own."  
"Your own?" Keith asked. I looked up at him with a warm smile. I felt myself blushing, and I felt myself being overwhelmed by happiness; I was on the verge of bursting out with joy.  
"My feelings for you," I clarified. "I finally understand them now."  
"You do?" Keith asked.  
"Yes. And…and…" I felt nervous; I wanted to tell him, but I didn't have it in me. "I…oh, screw it," I sighed.

I suddenly, yet softly, pressed my lips against Keith's. I could tell Keith was startled, but I felt him becoming more relaxed. As I gently released our kiss, Keith and I looked at each other's eyes. We were smiling warmly.  
"So…you feel the same way?" Keith asked me.  
"I do," I replied, almost in a whisper. I closed my eyes softly as I looked down slightly and my smile grew a little bit. "Thank you. For making it clear for me." Keith drew me closer to him and cuddled me lightly. I rested my head gently on his chest.  
"Alex…I think it's appropriate for me to make a pledge," Keith said softly.  
"What, another one?" I asked in a small laugh. "This'll make, what, three now?"  
"So? There's no limit to what you can pledge," Keith sniggered. "Besides…I think this one will be more meaningful than the others."  
"Yeah? What do you have in mind for this pledge?" I asked with interest as I squinted up at him. Keith looked down at me with a warm smile.  
"Well… I'll call this a promise instead; pledge isn't really the right word," he said gently. "I promise to always love you. No matter what."

Keith's promise was very sweet. And romantic, I had to admit. I felt Keith gently kissing the top of my head before he stroked my hair softly.

I glanced over at the clock next to Keith's bed. I didn't care that it was almost midnight. I had a very fantastic day. I looked over at Keith; he looked lovingly towards me.  
"So, Ryder put you up to our meeting, did he?" I asked him.  
"It was his idea to meet at the Pledge Stone," he replied. "I agreed with him; it was appropriate, since we started our friendship there, basically."  
"Hmm…very fitting," I agreed. "Keith?"  
"What's up?"  
"Did you have a hunch that we'd get closer than friends?" I asked. "You know…did you have a feeling there was more to our friendship than we were letting on?"  
"Um…" Keith looked up towards the ceiling in thought. "Moderately, I suppose," he answered finally as he looked back at me. "What about you?"  
"No, I didn't," I laughed. "It's like I was oblivious to my own feelings all along." Keith smiled.  
"What are you like?" he chuckled.  
"Well how was I supposed to know I felt like that?" I asked, laughing.  
"Felt like what?" Keith asked playfully.  
"How did I know that I…you know!" I sniggered.  
"That you what?" Keith questioned teasingly. I smirked at him.  
"You just want to hear me say it, don't you?" I asked.  
"Say what?" Keith asked casually.  
"I love you!" I replied. I suddenly looked bewildered, while Keith laughed. "You just got me, didn't you?"  
"Yes I did," Keith sniggered.  
"Dang," I pouted playfully. Keith drew me closer to him and held onto me softly. I huddled up to him while he stroked my head.  
"I hate to ask you this, but are you going to be okay while he's still out there?" he asked. I knew whom he meant, but I didn't let it get to me; I simply smiled warmly in Keith's arms.  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said quietly. "Besides…I think Ryder wants payback on Ice and Kincaid anyway."  
"I swear to you, Alex…if Kincaid messes with you again, I'll deal with him myself," Keith said sternly. I looked up at him in confusion and noticed his serious demeanour.  
"You don't have to. I mean, Kincaid isn't even worth the flesh and bones he's made from, let alone the effort of giving him a punch in the face," I said calmly.  
"No, if he so much as touches you, I'll make sure he winds up looking like something that got run over by a Tauros stampede," Keith said snidely. As I huddled closer to him, I could tell he softened up; I squinted up at him and saw him looking at me sweetly.  
"Even before all this, you still look out for me," I giggled.  
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't," he said, laughing slightly. "Besides, I've always cared about you, haven't I?"  
"True," I smiled. "And I'm glad to have someone like you in my life." I felt Keith tilting my head up. He then kissed my lips softly. As he released the kiss, he held me a little closer to him and he kissed the top of my head.  
"I can safely say the same to you," he smiled.

_To be continued…_


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 – Déjà vu!**

"Professor, are you sure we should look into this?" Rhythmi asked reluctantly as she looked back at Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma. They, along with Linda and Marcus, were all in the Operations Room. "I mean, nothing's happening, but…what do you think?"  
"Perhaps Alexa can look into it," Hastings nodded. Rhythmi looked towards Hastings in confusion.  
"Are you sure we can't ask an Area Ranger to check it out?" she asked. "And why Alexa? Call me crazy, but are you sure it's wise to leave her out of the hunt for Kincaid?"  
"Yes. Yes I am sure," Hastings nodded with a sigh. "It was foolish to allow her to chase after young Kyle and his captors after her own captivity."  
"With all due respect, Professor, you have been sending her on nothing but patrols ever since she and Ryder rescued Kyle!" Rhythmi complained. "I feel bad that she's being left out of the Union's main mission."  
"Not to worry, dear, I'm certain everything will be fine," Erma smiled. "Now, about this problem we're facing at this moment…"  
"As I said, I'll ask Alexa to check it out," Hastings confirmed.  
"Ask me to check out what?" Alexa asked with a small laugh. Hastings, Erma and Rhythmi looked towards the escalator, and found Keith, Alexa, Buizel, Ryder and Kyle approaching them. Keith had his right arm around Alexa's waist. Hastings smiled.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," he chuckled. "We have a problem – or, rather, a mild inconvenience – at the top of Altru Tower."  
_Inconvenience? It's not the Luminous Crystal, I hope,_ Ryder teased.  
"No, no, that's the last thing that would be described as an inconvenience. The inconvenience lies within a loiterer," Hastings stated.  
"A loiterer? So someone's just hanging around the Luminous Crystal for no reason?" Keith questioned.  
"Precisely," Hastings confirmed. "Alexa, I want you to look into this inconvenience."  
_I have a small problem with that; we've been doing nothing but patrol all week!_ Ryder complained. _And now you want us to kick someone off of Altru Tower because they've been there too long?!_  
"Crude, Ryder, but it could be worse," Alexa sniggered. She looked towards Hastings. "Sure, I can look into it."  
"I'm glad," Hastings smiled. "I am asking you because I know you will be polite; I do not wish for the loiterer to feel antagonised in any way."  
"Gotcha," Alexa nodded. She looked towards Ryder. "So, Ryder, fancy seeing the Luminous Crystal?"  
_Wait, what?! Why're you looking at me?!_ Ryder asked in shock. _Isn't it Kyle's turn or something?!_  
"No, Kyle went out yesterday," Alexa laughed.  
_Oh, right,_ Ryder laughed sheepishly. _Oh, come on then, let's get this over and done with,_ he sighed. Alexa squinted up at Keith.  
"Um…you'll need to let me go first," she laughed. Keith laughed nervously as he carefully removed his arm from her waist.  
"Sorry. Just…be careful, okay?"  
_Dude…we're just going to Altru Tower,_ Ryder sighed. _We're not exactly going through Operation Brighton again._  
"You know why I'm concerned," Keith sighed. "Just look after her like you usually do. Please?"  
_Oh, right, like I did when-_  
"Stop! Ryder. Just stop," Alexa snapped abruptly. She smiled towards Keith. "I'll be fine. Besides, you know I'll let you know if I need help." Keith smiled.  
"Okay," he nodded. "Take it easy."  
"I will," Alexa nodded. Ryder ran past her and headed down the escalator. Alexa started to follow him. Keith gently grabbed Alexa's right hand with his left, pulled her towards him and planted a soft kiss on her lips as soon as she faced him. Keith smiled sweetly towards her as he released the kiss. Alexa laughed.  
"You sneak!" Keith laughed as he watched Alexa running after Ryder.  
"Oh-ho, I knew you two would get along," Erma chuckled.  
"Though I would never have imagined that you would win her heart," Hastings laughed. Keith looked towards them, looking deeply embarrassed. Buizel and Kyle chuckled amongst themselves.

_Meanwhile…_

Alexa and Ryder jumped off of a Staraptor's back and landed on the roof of the Altru Building, on their feet.  
_Listen, Alex, why don't we just land on top of the tower?_ Ryder questioned. _Wouldn't that make more sense than landing here and walking up the tower?_  
"I'unno," Alexa shrugged. "Let's just do this anyway," she said as she entered the tower. Ryder followed her without further question.

Alexa and Ryder walked through the tower. As they walked, they saw the three coloured rooms they had to enter during Operation Brighton. All three corridors were deserted. They eventually made their way to the final set of stairs before the tower roof. They stopped and looked around.  
_Hey, that control panel's dead,_ Ryder said as he looked towards a small cubical. Alexa looked towards the cubical and noticed the shut off control panel.  
"I guess it doesn't have anything to control anymore," Alexa mused. "But I think we should focus on the task at hand and find that loiterer."  
_Good idea; I've had a nasty sense of déjà vu all the way up this tower,_ Ryder growled. He followed Alexa towards and up the staircase.

_Outside…_

Alexa and Ryder arrived at the top of the Altru Tower and beheld the magnificent sight of the large Luminous Crystal. The Red, Blue and Yellow Gems hovered around the Luminous Crystal in a triangle formation. Alexa and Ryder smiled at the beauty of the sight before they spotted a tired-looking elderly man with two Drowzee on either side of him.  
_This is our loiterer? Some guy with two strange looking Pokémon?_ Ryder questioned.  
"Yeah, apparently so," Alexa sighed. She and Ryder approached the man and the Drowzee cautiously. The man faced Alexa sleepily; though he looked sleepy, he smiled.  
"…Ah, but I am not asleep…they call me the Drowsy Guy," the man said quietly.  
"The Drowsy Guy?" Alexa questioned.  
"And you? You are you, if I am not mistaken," the Drowsy Guy smiled.  
_Um…we're all who we are,_ Ryder sighed. _Look, Mac, can you be a little more precise about who you are? And more to the point, why you're looking half asleep right up here?_  
"Hmm…for someone so special, I can let you experience again a memorable capture," the Drowsy Guy smiled.  
"Memorable capture?" Alexa questioned again. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"  
_Alex, I don't like the look of this guy; he's kind of creepy,_ Ryder said quietly as he subtly stood in front of Alexa.  
"Where you're going, a certain man awaits you with a Pokémon of darkness," the Drowsy Guy said. "But you will not be able to return for a while. Go with caution, young lady."  
"Wait, what?!" Alexa gasped.  
_Hold on a minute, we didn't want to-_ Ryder began hastily.  
"Deja, deja, deja, deja, deja…" The Drowsy Guy waved his hands in a circle as his hands shone in a faint white aura. He clapped his hands together, held his arms up in the air and held out his palms in front of him. "VU!"  
"Drowzee…!" The two Drowzee held out their palms in front of them as their palms shone in a similar white aura. The Drowsy Guy kept circling his arms around.  
"Wh-what're you doing?!" Alexa asked fearfully.

_FLASH!_

"Aagh!" Alexa and Ryder yelled in pain as they collapsed onto their knees. Alexa, oddly, had bandages around her forehead and around her right arm, as well as a bloodied cloth tied around her right knee, and had various bruises all over her. Ryder, meanwhile, had bandages around his forehead, his tail and his chest, just below his chest spike. The atmosphere around them was shrouded with darkness.  
_Wh-what just…?! Why am I in such pain?!_ Ryder winced.  
"Wh-where are we…?!" Alexa asked breathlessly.

**RING-RING-RING-RING!**

Alexa and Ryder looked towards Alexa's styler in confusion as they answered the incoming voicemail.  
"Alexa, is that you? Hastings here! The Incredible Machine's power has hit Level 3!" Hastings exclaimed.  
"The Incredible Machine?!" Alexa cried.  
_Level 3?!_ Ryder exclaimed.  
"As a result, the Pokémon all over Almia are in the worst states imaginable. However, all is not lost! Thanks to your heroics, Alexa, the Blue, Red and Yellow Gems are in our hands! All that remains to be done is to take the three gems to the Shadow Crystal! You must awaken the light sealed within its darkness!"  
_Alex…wh-what just happened to us?_ Ryder asked worriedly as he looked towards Alexa. Alexa faced Ryder, looking equally as worried.  
"I-I don't know!" she whimpered.  
"Hm? An enormous power of some sorts appears to be in motion there," Hastings continued. "Perhaps something is trying to reach that location. Be alert and extra cautious! And…be sure to return alive!"  
"R-return alive?!" Alexa gulped.  
_A-Alex…I think I've figured this out,_ Ryder said worriedly. _S-somehow…that Drowsy Guy…he's…making us go through Operation Brighton again._  
"What?!" Alexa gasped in horror.

"A Pokémon who stores the power of darkness in its own body. That is Darkrai, my most beloved of Pokémon," Blake Hall's sinister voice caught Alexa and Ryder's attention. They stood up and confronted Blake, who stood before them with Heath and Wheeler at his side.  
"Blake Hall?!" Alexa gasped. A dark portal revealed itself in front of Blake and expanded, nearly covering the entire area. Alexa and Ryder winced as they saw the hypnotised Darkrai revealed itself from the darkness.  
"Alexa! If you are not willing to give yourself up to me, then you are meaningless to me!" Blake shouted.  
"Blake, why were you so interested in me?!" Alexa cried.  
"Weren't you listening to me before? I said once I've established the Incredible Machine's full power, I'd claim you as my souvenir," Blake sighed.  
_What were you drinking when you came up with such a perverted idea?!_ Ryder snarled.  
"But now you are meaningless to me, Alexa! Darkrai, invite this hero-fixated child into your world of darkness!" Blake commanded. Ryder and Alexa stepped back in fear as Darkrai hovered towards them. Darkrai opened a dark void underneath them and began to pull them into it. They flailed as they tried to resist the force pulling them towards the void. "Alexa! Go into the world of darkness!"  
Wheeler laughed happily, yet quietly. Ryder and Alexa were in the centre of the void and were being slowly pulled into its depths.  
_Why did we have to let that Drowsy Guy do this to us?!_ Ryder panicked.  
"I don't know! But suddenly I feel like I've let everyone down!" Alexa cried. She closed her eyes tightly, which released her tears of fright. "KEITH!"

**"ALEX!"**

"STARRRR!" A Staraptor quickly flew over Alexa and Ryder, pulling them out of the void moments before the duo was lost to the darkness. The void disappeared soon after. Alexa and Ryder landed on the ground safely as the Staraptor hovered down to their level. Alexa and Ryder smiled joyfully as they saw the Staraptor's rider.  
"Keith! You're alive!" Alexa cried happily.  
_And Buizel! Thank Arceus you're safe too!_ Ryder exclaimed with relief.  
"Bui!" Buizel nodded.  
"You bet we are!" Keith smiled. "Magmortar's attack knocked us all the way to the Lookout Ridge! But we can talk about that later! Alex, let me have the Yellow Gem!"  
_Excuse me, I've been carrying it,_ Ryder laughed as he approached Keith with the Yellow Gem in hand. Keith held onto the Yellow Gem and smiled towards Alexa as she approached him.  
"I can tell you suffered some more, Alex, but I'm here if you need me," he said kindly. "I'll join Sven and Wendy now. Alex, let's be safe, both of us!"  
"Because…we're both as important as each other in this operation, right?" Alexa questioned tearfully. In spite of his warm smile, tears developed in Keith's eyes.  
"Exactly!" he agreed. Alexa and Ryder watched with relief as Staraptor flew up into the sky.  
"Ryder, how exactly did you end up with the Yellow Gem?" Alexa asked quietly.  
_Same way I ended up with it the first time, I guess,_ Ryder shrugged.

"Blasted Rangers," Blake snarled. "You leave me with no choice. The Incredible Machine has a hidden level beyond level 3. The forbidden level, Level Dark!"  
"What?!" Alexa and Ryder cried in horror. They, Heath and Wheeler watched in horror as the Incredible Machine underwent the dramatic change. Darkrai cried out in agony, with its hands placed on either side of its head, suffering as a result of the change. The Incredible Machine's power came dangerously close to overloading because of the extra and forbidden power. Blake stood in front of Darkrai and smirked before Alexa and Ryder.  
"This is it! Level Dark! The forbidden level of power known only by the infinity that is darkness itself!" he declared. "Now, my Darkrai, your age has come! But first you must do something. Swat down the annoying pests flying overhead!"  
"Don't you dare hurt Keith!" Alexa cried furiously. Darkrai created a small void underneath it.  
"Whaa!" Wheeler cried as he was dragged into the void. Heath, Blake, Alexa and Ryder watched in horror as the void swallowed Wheeler. "M-Mr President! Help me!" he pleaded. The void swallowed him whole and disappeared.

_SMASH!_

The crimson crystal ball behind Darkrai shattered into pieces.  
"Th-the ball!" Alexa gasped.  
_Okay, what was that thing for again?_ Ryder questioned in bewilderment. Alexa looked towards him.  
"It's how he was able to summon Dusknoir here from the Hippowdon Temple, remember?" She looked towards Blake angrily. "Blake! Don't you realise what you have just done?! The Incredible Machine has so much power now, you've lost control over Darkrai entirely! Its not following your commands anymore, it's too corrupted!"  
"No more! I no want this anymore! I going home to the country!" Heath panicked, fleeing from the tower. Ryder looked back at the fleeing Heath.  
_Find a shirt while you're there!_ Ryder shouted insultingly.  
"Lost control over Darkrai?! That is ridiculous, Alexa!" Blake scolded. "Darkrai is mine to command!"  
"Then just look behind you!" Alexa screamed. Blake looked behind him in confusion; he found a dark void behind him, which started pulling him in.  
"Darkrai!? What is the meaning of this!? The Ranger is over there!" Blake cried. "Alexa!" he yelled as the darkness of the void fully enveloped him. Alexa and Ryder stared at the corrupted Darkrai, frozen with a mutual fear.

_In the Sky…_

"Darkness! It's spreading all over the tower!" Sven exclaimed.  
"I can't see the Shadow Crystal anymore! Darkrai, Alexa, Ryder and everyone else is in that darkness!" Wendy said worriedly.

"Alex! Can you hear me?!" Keith called at the top of his voice, worriedly. "What's happening down there?!"

_At the tower roof…_

Alexa and Ryder fearfully stared at the idle corrupted Darkrai. Neither Alexa nor Ryder moved an inch, not even blinking.  
"Ryder…we're on our own for this…" Alexa said fearfully. "J-just like before…"  
_I don't want to be here anymore!_ Ryder cried. _Why do we have to go through this again?!_  
"I-I don't know, b-but w-we may as well g-get it over with!" Alexa whimpered. "Capture on!" She desperately fired her capture disc at the Darkrai. In spite of how accurate her control was, Darkrai was unaffected. Darkrai formed a large ball of light blue energy in between its hands before firing it at Alexa and Ryder.

**CRASH!**

"WHAAAAAAAAA!" Alexa and Ryder cried out in agony as the large sphere of energy collided with their weakened bodies, worsening their current injuries in addition to creating entirely new ones. They crashed into the ground and lay limp.

The agonised cries echoed to the skies above, as Sven, Wendy and Keith all looked towards the darkness-veiled tower in devastation and horror.  
"Alex, no!" Keith cried.  
"Bui!" Buizel exclaimed in horror.  
"What the hell just happened?! Did…did Darkrai attack them?!" Sven asked in terror.  
"It must have done! Alexa and Ryder both cried out in pain!" Wendy panicked. "But what did Darkrai do?!"  
"I'm not sure if Alex could survive that, she's too badly hurt!" Keith cried. "I'm not sure how much longer she can cope! We should help her!"

_On the tower roof…_

Alexa and Ryder groaned as they began to stir. They struggled to move, let alone attempt to stand back up.  
_I…I didn't need to…experience that…again…_ Ryder growled. _J-just like before…D-Darkrai…isn't affected…_  
"But…w-we can't just…give up…" Alexa strained to her feet and looked up at the dark sky with tears falling from her eyes. She lowered her head. "We can't…" She closed her eyes, which released more tears, as she took the deepest breath she could take.

"WE WON'T GIVE UP, GUYS!" she cried nobly as she raised her head up towards the dark clouds overhead.

Alexa's noble words pierced through the darkness as Sven and Wendy smiled happily as they heard her voice. Keith smiled warmly as his withheld tears finally escaped his eyes.  
"Alex! She's alive!" he cried.  
"And Ryder too, from the sound of things!" Wendy added happily.  
"She's one tough cookie," Sven sighed with relief. The Blue Gem suddenly shone. "Whoa!"  
"This light…it's the same as the pendants," Wendy observed as the Red Gem glowed.  
"It's as though…they're searching for something," Keith added as the Yellow Gem glimmered. The beams of light circled around Keith, Sven and Wendy before finally descending into the darkness below.

"Huh?" Alexa and Ryder looked up at the sky in shock as they spotted the three coloured lights descending towards Alexa's styler. They circled around her before they were absorbed into the styler. Her capture disc shone brightly with the three coloured lights as her styler mysteriously regained its full energy.  
_Alex, your styler!_  
"It's…just like last time…"  
_They're lending us their power._  
"We can win this now!"  
_By the way…is it ever explained how the three shards got into your styler?_  
"I don't even care at this point!" Alexa and Ryder staggered towards the enraged Darkrai.

"Capture on!" Alexa fired her powered up capture disc at the Darkrai. Ryder, summoning up what energy he has left, surrounded himself with his bodily aura and fired a powered up Aura Sphere at the capture disc. Ryder's Pokémon Assist ability, combined with the power from the Coloured Gems, quadrupled the capture disc's power. Ryder stepped in front of Alexa and held onto her right arm,  
_Alex, the sooner we get this over and done with, the sooner I can ask that Drowsy Guy why he did this to us!_ Ryder smiled. _Let's do this together!_  
"Right! We got into this mess together, we can get out of it together!" Alexa smiled in agreement.  
With each other's help, Alexa and Ryder both controlled the capture disc together. Teamwork and trust in each other's judgement were the only factors preventing the capture disc from taking any damage. As soon as the Pokémon Assist ability faded, Ryder instantly fired another Aura Sphere at the capture disc, which started up the ability again. With their combined effort, Darkrai had become successfully befriended.

Alexa and Ryder collapsed onto their knees out of exhaustion, having used up more energy than they had. They smiled towards the Shadow Crystal as they saw Sven, Wendy and Keith, on their Staraptors, circling it with the Blue, Red and Yellow Gems in their respective hands.  
"Ryder…we did it…" Alexa panted.  
_Again,_ Ryder laughed breathlessly. He and Alexa watched the Shadow Crystal losing its darkness as it transformed into a transparent crystal. As the darkness faded, the crystal became brighter.

_FLASH!_

"Huh? What?" Alexa and Ryder looked around in confusion; they found themselves standing up properly, with no injuries.  
"How did you enjoy the most memorable of captures?" the Drowsy Guy asked curiously. Alexa and Ryder faced him in shock.  
"Wh-what the hell was that?!" Alexa asked in utter bewilderment. "What did you do?!"  
"If you wish to relive that memory, do come see me again." The Drowsy Guy lowered his head and snored.  
_Hey, old guy, don't fall asleep on us! What did you do!?_ Ryder growled angrily.  
"Forget it, Ryder, I don't think he's answering," Alexa sighed. Ryder sighed as he looked up at Alexa.  
_Well, what are we supposed to say to Professor Hastings about this guy?_ He asked. _We can't say he's some déjà vu voodoo man who made us go through Operation Brighton again!_  
"So we don't," Alexa shrugged. "Trust me, I know what to say."  
_Trust you? Don't I always?_ Ryder smirked as he and Alexa turned away from the Drowsy Guy and walked towards the stairway, hand in paw.

_At the Union…_

Alexa and Ryder walked away from the escalator and approached Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma in the Operations Room.  
"Ah, Alexa! You took longer than we expected, was everything all right?" Erma asked with concern.  
"No, we're fine," Alexa smiled. "The loiterer's just a harmless gentleman who frequently visits the Luminous Crystal. The only exception was when Kincaid tried to turn it back into the Shadow Crystal."  
"Ah, a frequent visitor of the Luminous Crystal, eh? Is that all? That's good to hear," Hastings smiled. "Hm? Is something the matter?" He asked with concern.  
"Hm?" Alexa looked towards Hastings in confusion; she had lost her smile. Ryder looked up at her worriedly. Erma also noticed Alexa's lack of smile, and, too, became concerned.  
"You look troubled. Is something on your mind, dear?" Erma asked earnestly. Alexa sighed as she turned anxious.  
"Any news on Kincaid?" she asked reluctantly. Erma and Hastings appeared confused.  
"What brought this up?" Erma asked curiously.  
"Déjà vu," Alexa answered quietly. "When we saw the Luminous Crystal, I was reminded of when Keith and I confronted Kincaid there."  
"Ah, I believe I understand your concern. But, sadly, no, there has been no news on Kincaid's whereabouts," Hastings sighed. "However, we will eventually catch him. You have my word."  
"Oh, that reminds me, dear, Keith is waiting for you by the Tree of Harmony," Erma smiled optimistically.  
"Yeah? What does he want?" Alexa asked in confusion.  
_I dunno, but I'm going to leave you alone,_ Ryder chuckled. _I think it's going to be another one of those moments._  
"Gee, thanks for your contribution, Ryder," Alexa said sarcastically as she watched Ryder running off. She sighed as she made her way to the escalator ahead of her, on the opposite side of the room.

_Outside…_

Alexa walked away from the escalator and looked around the union roof. The pedestals that the Red and Blue Gems were originally placed on were removed, leaving the roof bear with the exception of the Tree of Harmony. Alexa looked around in confusion.  
"Keith? You up here?" she asked in puzzlement. She looked up as she heard rustling from the tree. She yelped and stepped back as she saw Keith hanging in front of her. He smiled towards her.  
"Hey!"  
"Keith? What're you doing in the tree? Aren't your knees hurt still?" Alexa asked in shock. Keith looked up before he faced Alexa.  
"Nah, they're fine, don't worry," he said reassuringly. "How did your loiterer encounter go?"  
"Um…fine, I guess," Alexa said nervously.  
"You guess? What happened?" Keith asked with concern. He hoisted himself up to the branch he hung from, sat on the branch and jumped down from the tree. Alexa sighed.  
"I just had a sense of déjà vu while Ryder and I were there," she replied. "About Operation Brighton, mostly."  
"Yeah? Were you okay going back there?" Keith asked softly.  
"Yeah, we were okay," Alexa smiled. "But it made me think about Kincaid. And…his escape."  
"Hey, don't worry, we'll catch him," Keith said reassuringly as he gently stroked Alexa's hair. "But you do know why I asked Professor Hastings to leave you out of the hunt, right?"  
"I know, and I trust you," Alexa smiled. "And the only way I'll be confronting him again is if he finds me."  
"Good girl," Keith smiled. He gently pulled Alexa towards him and held onto her in a gentle cuddle, with his right hand on the back of her head. Alexa happily nestled in Keith's cuddle.  
"Thanks for looking out for me, Keith," Alexa said modestly as she blushed.  
"No problem," Keith smiled.

_To be continued…_


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven – Palkia in Haruba Desert!?**

Ryder, Kyle and Buizel lay asleep on Alexa's bed. Kyle and Ryder huddled up close, and Buizel used Ryder's back as a makeshift pillow. Alexa, meanwhile, was asleep in Keith's bed, next to Keith. Keith slept peacefully, but Alexa tossed and turned as she slept, occasionally moaning under her breath.

_A small Prussian blue Riolu used a small surge of bright yellow-green energy emitted from its right paw to destroy the ropes that bound a young blonde girl to an ancient pillar._

Alexa continued to toss and turn in her sleep, though her tossing became slightly more violent. She was sweating as she tossed.

_The young blonde girl pulled a white cloth from her mouth and gasped for air. The little Riolu ran into the girl's arms and they hugged briefly. The girl and her Riolu turned their attention to a dark masculine figure, who had his back turned on them, watching two large vortexes appearing next to one another in front of him. The girl and her Riolu stood up and watched in horror as two large shadows emerged from the vortexes._

Alexa started to whimper in her sleep as she tossed and turned. She was still sweating, but she also had a tear in her eye. She looked frightened.

_"Hm. I will forgive you for interfering with my plans, Alexa," the figure scoffed. "After all, there will be nothing of this world left when my world is complete." The figure turned around and faced the girl angrily; only his pale blue eyes were visible, while the rest of his appearance remained in shadow. "All spirit will be ripped away from you! From your Pokémon! From everyone you hold dear!"_

"NOOO!"

Alexa screamed as she sharply bolted up from the bed. As she hyperventilated, her withheld tear fell down her face. She wore a white vest. Keith, awoken by Alexa's cry, sat up and looked towards her worriedly. He had a plain white T-shirt on.  
"Alex? Hey, what's the matter?" he asked softly. Alexa looked towards Keith; she still looked frightened. "Oh, no…don't tell me…" Alexa nodded.  
"I had that nightmare again," she whimpered. Keith moved slightly closer to Alexa and held onto her lightly.  
"Alex, are you sure you're okay? You had that same nightmare last night, what's on your mind?" he asked with concern as he held her close to him.  
"I don't know," Alexa replied shyly. "I-it's like my past wants to haunt me or something."  
"It'll be okay," Keith said quietly. "You're okay." Alexa smiled warmly towards Keith.  
"Thanks. And, um…sorry I woke you up," she said sheepishly. Keith laughed quietly as he looked at her directly. He gently wiped her tears away.  
"Hey, it's okay; I don't mind you waking me up," he smiled. "But we should get back to sleep. It's still early." Alexa nodded as she lay on her side, with her back turned to Keith. As she laid her head on the pillow, Keith gently moved slightly closer to her and carefully placed his right arm around her, which startled her slightly. She squinted towards Keith in confusion.  
"What's up?"  
"I just thought this would help you get to sleep," Keith smiled. "You'll be fine, I know it." Alexa smiled warmly.  
"Thanks, Keith," she said quietly. She rested her head on her pillow and sighed contentedly as she gently fell asleep. Keith smiled warmly as he watched Alexa falling asleep. He tenderly kissed the top of Alexa's head before he rested his head on his pillow. With a gentle smile on his face, Keith drifted off to sleep.

_The next morning…_

Alexa and Ryder stood, in the Union's Conference room, before Professor Hastings. Murph stood to one side, overseeing the meeting.  
"Alexa, as you may already know, we're investigating if the Incredible Machine had any residual side effects," Hastings explained. "It's a far-flung investigation spanning the whole of the Almia region."  
"Does that have anything to do with its former capabilities?" Alexa questioned.  
_I would imagine so, but what does that have to do with us?_ Ryder asked in confusion. _I mean, I know we stopped the machine and all that, but it's confusing me._  
"I've assigned Sven and Wendy to this mission, but the Almia region is vast," Hastings began. "So-"  
_Wait, wait, wait! I thought they were joining in the hunt for Kincaid!_ Ryder assumed abruptly.  
"Must you speak his name?" Alexa asked quietly as she winced.  
"Keith has volunteered to carry on searching for Kincaid on his own for the time being," Hastings stated. "So don't fret over that matter."  
_So I'll fret over this one; what does this Incredible Machine Side Effect hunt have to do with us?_ Ryder asked.  
"Simple; Professor Hastings wants us to help out with that," Alexa sniggered.  
"Precisely," Hastings smiled.

_RING-RING-RING-RING!_

Alexa and Ryder looked at her styler in confusion; it hadn't picked up a voicemail. Hastings took out a small red handheld communication device from his coat pocket and pressed a button.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Sven here," Sven said quickly. "I'm in the Haruba Desert right now, and there's something weird happening. I need back up." Hastings lifted his thumb from the button and faced Alexa.  
"A mere mention of his name and we get a voicemail from him," he laughed. "But something seems to have happened in the Haruba Desert. Alexa, can you-"  
"I know, meet with Sven at the Haruba Desert and find out what's happening," Alexa smiled as she and Ryder started to walk towards the door.

_BUMP!_

"Oof!" Alexa bumped into Sven as he entered the room. Alexa looked up at him in astonishment. "Sven?!"  
"Alexa?!" Sven questioned in shock. Alexa moved away from Sven, allowing him and Luxray to enter the room. "Murph and Professor Hastings? What's going on here?"  
Another man walked into the Conference room. He was a tan-skinned man with a thin black beard, and dressed in light cream and red clothing with a turban on his head. He carried a large dark brown backpack on his back.  
"Hold on now! What're you folks doing in my house?!" he asked in astonishment. Alexa and Ryder looked at the man in bewilderment.  
"What in the…?!" Alexa gasped.  
_Hey, I know you! You're that guy who mistook a Gigaremo unit for a cappuccino machine!_ Ryder exclaimed. The man looked around in horror.  
"Wait, this isn't my house!"  
_Clearly not,_ Ryder sighed. Sven looked around.  
"Isn't this the Union's Conference room?" he asked.  
"Sven?! Didn't you just send a voicemail from the Haruba Desert?!" Hastings asked in bewilderment.  
"That's right, but…what's all this about…?" Sven pondered. "Oh! That's it!" Sven and Luxray suddenly ran out of the Conference room.  
"Stop, Sven! Wait! Wait, I say!" Hastings called abruptly. "Alexa, follow him! Something very odd is decidedly taking place! After him!"  
"Gotcha!" Alexa nodded. She and Ryder headed towards the door.  
"Sven, w-wait for me!" the man cried as he ran towards the door.  
_Hey, don't shove!_ Ryder growled.

_BUMP!_

"WHOA!" Alexa and Ryder were pushed out of the Conference room.

_THUMP!_

"OOMPH!" Alexa and Ryder fell into the sand beneath them. Sven and Luxray approached them and helped them up.  
"You okay, pet?" Sven asked.  
"Yeah, I think so," Alexa nodded.  
_I think I got sand in my mouth,_ Ryder complained. Wait…  
"Sand?" Alexa asked in confusion. She and Ryder looked around. They looked utterly astonished.  
_Holy mother of Arceus, how did we get here?!_ Ryder cried. The man exited the doorway of a stone house.  
"I wasn't dreaming just now, was I?" he asked worriedly.  
"What about the other houses? Henry, can I get you to visit the house next door?" Sven asked.  
"This has got me spooked, but I'll go," Henry nodded as he walked towards the next house.  
"Oh, that's his name, huh? We never did ask him his name," Alexa said quietly. Ryder watched Henry entering the house.

"Hey, this isn't a room! Oh, it's just up from my house!" Henry exclaimed. Sven, Luxray, Ryder and Alexa looked up and found Henry on the small hill above them, looking panicky.  
_Okay, what's going on here?!_ Ryder exclaimed.  
"There's a distortion in space, I reckon," Sven assumed.  
"Space distortion…?" Alexa asked quietly. She sounded rather worried.  
"Sven, do you want me to try the other houses too? This is kind of fun!" Henry called happily. Sven and Alexa looked up at Henry; he stood in front of the house next to the one he exited from.  
"Whoa, Henry, take it slow and easy!" Sven cautioned. Henry happily wandered into the house.  
"Aaaaaiieee! Sven! Help!" Henry cried.  
_Slow and easy does not mean wander in aimlessly!_ Ryder snarled.  
"Come on, Alexa, let's get after him!" Sven exclaimed. With a nod from Alexa, she, Sven, Luxray and Ryder ran up the steps next to the second house and ran into the house Henry ran into.

_Inside…_

Sven, Alexa, Ryder and Luxray found Henry at the start of the Hippowdon Temple, much to Alexa and Ryder's mutual disgust.  
"Rangers? Is this…?"  
"Yep, this is the Hippowdon Temple," Sven nodded. "But somehow it's not."  
"How do you mean, somehow it's not?" Alexa asked.  
"It's just not the way it ought to be," Sven answered. He sighed. "Something's been gnawing at me."  
_Not a Bibarel, I hope,_ Ryder joked.  
"No, it's about this Pokémon…it's said to be capable of distorting space," Sven said quietly. "I'm talking about Palkia." Alexa and Ryder suddenly winced.  
"Palkia…?!" Alexa whimpered.

_RING-RING-RING-RING!_

Alexa, Ryder, Sven, Luxray and Henry looked towards Alexa's styler in confusion. Alexa lifted her arm and picked up the voicemail.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Alexa, it's me, Rhythmi! You and Sven are in the Hippowdon Temple, right? We're getting indications of a Pokémon more powerful than anything before! It's in your vicinity, please be careful" Rhythmi said worriedly. The voicemail ended.  
"More powerful than anything before…my guess about Palkia might be spot on," Sven pondered. Alexa and Ryder faced one another worriedly. Sven looked towards Henry. "By the way, Henry, thanks for coming with us, but from here on, we Rangers will-"  
"Oh, come on, you can't give me the brush-off now," Henry said quickly. "I've been along for the ride, don't leave me by the wayside. I'm here for the whole trip!"  
_You must be kidding me! Palkia's a very dangerous Pokémon!_ Ryder growled angrily.  
"And, because of that, there's no guarantee Henry can get out safely on his own," Sven agreed. "Okay, we'll stick together."  
_B-but!_ Ryder looked up at Alexa, looking panicky. Alexa looked mildly frightened. _A-Alex! W-we can't put him at risk, can we?!_  
"If we stick together, we can look after him. If we don't, nobody can protect him if he's in danger," Alexa said quietly. Ryder looked at her worriedly.  
"That's how it is. Slower and steadier than usual, pet," Sven smiled as he looked towards Alexa. He looked confused. "Alexa? You okay?"  
"Hm?" Alexa looked towards Sven in confusion.  
"Worried about meeting Palkia?" Sven asked.  
"You have absolutely no idea," Alexa whispered; she looked intimidated.  
"Don't worry about it, it's my first time too," Sven smiled as he, Henry and Luxray walked towards the other side of the room. Alexa and Ryder watched them leave.  
"That's not what I meant," Alexa whispered as she and Ryder ran after Sven. The group walked through the doorway.

"Huh? This is near the Ranger Union!" Sven exclaimed as he, Alexa, Henry, Ryder and Luxray approached a set of steps leading to the Union building.  
"Oh my goodness and good gosh! There's a place with this much green and free-flowing water?!" Henry exclaimed in awe. Ryder looked around.  
_I don't see any running water around here,_ he commented.  
"Is this what you call travelling?" Henry asked.  
"You've been protecting the Haruba village all your life, yeah? This is your first visit to the outside world, I take it," Sven assumed.  
_Um…that guy protects the Haruba Village? This guy who mistook a Gigaremo unit for a cappuccino machine?_ Ryder asked rudely.  
"Don't be so harsh, Ryder. Besides, Professor Hastings mistook them for mailboxes, remember?" Alexa sniggered.  
_Oh, yeah, I remember that!_ Ryder chuckled.  
"Alexa, get a move on!" Sven called. Alexa and Ryder looked ahead, and found Sven and Henry on the steps leading to the union building. Alexa and Ryder ran after them.  
"Given the space distortions, Ryder…what do you think is inside the union?" Alexa asked curiously.  
_Given the space distortions, Alex, I think whatever is inside the Union isn't the Union,_ Ryder guessed as he watched Sven opening the door and entering.

_Inside…_

Sven, Luxray, Henry, Alexa and Ryder walked up a set of stairs and found themselves in a large circular metallic room with an illuminated dome in the middle of the room. Alexa and Ryder looked around while Sven, Luxray and Henry ran on.  
"Hey, this is Altru Tower!" Alexa exclaimed.  
_Yeah, I remember! Back when we came back here with Keith, and Darkrai saved us from a locked room!_ Ryder stated. _We woke up here!_  
"To be honest, I thought we were goners for sure," Alexa laughed nervously. "I didn't think Darkrai could use Dark Void for teleportation. Even though that's not how it's supposed to work, but I won't question it."  
"Alexa, keep up, pet!" Sven called. Alexa and Ryder ran after them. "Whoa, watch out!"

_CRASH!_

"Aaaagh!" A Carnivine tackled into Alexa. Alexa landed on her back and the Carnivine landed on top of her. Ryder held out his right paw as it and his eyes shone in a cyan aura.  
_You were from the Chroma Highlands, weren't you, you little swine!_ Ryder growled as the Carnivine became enveloped in the cyan aura. Ryder swung his right arm across him.  
"VIIIUH!" Carnivine yelped as he flew across the room. He tumbled down the steps. Ryder's cyan aura faded and he ran over to Alexa.  
"Huh; now that Carnivine's outside the union," Sven joked. "You okay, pet?"  
"Ow…" Alexa sat up just as Ryder held out his right paw in front of her. Alexa took hold of Ryder's paw and hoisted herself onto her feet. "Yeah, I think so."  
_Those Carnivine are nasty little things,_ Ryder snarled. _I suppose we should keep going now._  
"Uh huh," Alexa nodded as she followed Ryder towards Sven, Henry and Luxray. The climbed up the stairs.

_Outside…_

"Yeeeeeh!" Alexa held onto herself instantly and rubbed her arms; she, Sven, Henry, Luxray and Ryder walked out of a rounded cabin and into a snowy environment. "The Shiver Camp?!"  
_How does one go from climbing up some stairs to walking out of a door?_ Ryder questioned.  
"How does one go from walking into a door to climbing up some stairs?" Sven asked rhetorically.  
_Touché,_ Ryder muttered. Henry looked around in awe.  
"Ooh! This feels very strange! So this is what being cold is like! It feels like this!" Henry exclaimed.  
"It's n-not always a good thing," Alexa shivered.  
"And this must be snow! I've heard about this! I'll take some home to Hank in a jar!" Henry added as he took out a small glass jar from his pocket.  
_Who's Hank?_ Ryder asked.  
"That boy he was with when we met him, I assume," Alexa guessed. Henry stood up and smiled.  
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe this view! I'd surely like Hank to set his eyes on this!" he said happily.  
"Y-yeah, snow is beautiful, but rather dangerous too," Alexa shivered.  
"Just like you, eh?" Sven laughed.  
_I'm sure Keith would agree,_ Ryder sniggered. Alexa blushed from embarrassment as she watched Ryder running past her.  
"Sh-shut up!" she exclaimed nervously. "Speaking of Keith…how is he?" she asked herself worriedly.  
_You gonna stand there and risk turning into a snowman? Get over here!_ Ryder called. Alexa ran after Ryder, Luxray, Sven and Henry.

Sven, Henry, Luxray, Alexa and Ryder ran down the steps and through Nabiki Beach. Ryder spotted a Jigglypuff floating around as he ran. The group ran up the steps towards Breeze Hill.

The group exited from one of the lifts in the Hippowdon Temple and ended up on top of the temple.

_RING-RING-RING-RING!_

Alexa looked towards her styler and picked up the incoming voicemail. Sven, Henry, Luxray and Ryder watched.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, it's Rhythmi," Rhythmi said worriedly. "You two seem to be hopping around all over Almia, are you all right?"  
"So far so good, yeah," Alexa replied nervously.  
"You seem to be taking a really roundabout way, but you're closing in on the Pokémon," Rhythmi stated before she ended the communication.  
"Hey, I've been having too much fun! Forget that Pokémon in the Hippowdon Temple!" Sven laughed as he, Henry and Luxray walked over to the other lift.  
"I wish we could," Alexa muttered worriedly.  
_Ditto,_ Ryder agreed as he and Alexa followed Sven into the lift.

Alexa, Ryder, Sven, Henry and Luxray walked down a staircase and found three people in the room. There was a blue-eyed brunette haired man sitting on one of the black leather sofas dressed in a black business suit reading a newspaper. There was also a hazel-eyed blonde-brunette haired woman by the kitchen sink dressed in a white shirt, a black skirt that exceeded her knees in length and had a white apron tied around her waist. On another sofa was a young blue-eyed orange-brunette haired boy dressed in a red T-shirt, which was worn over a brown long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and white trainers. There was a Gardevoir next to the woman; the Gardevoir wore a sapphire bracelet around its left wrist. There was a Typhlosion lying next to the man, and the young boy had a Vaporeon on his lap; the Vaporeon wore a violet collar around its neck. Alexa and Ryder looked around in astonishment. The three people in the house looked towards her, Ryder, Sven, Luxray and Henry in astonishment.  
"Alex?! When did you come home?" the boy asked in confusion. Alexa faced the boy nervously.  
"Hi, Keenan," she said feebly. "Hi, Mum, hi, Dad," she added.  
"I wish you told me you were bringing company, Alexa, I could've put the kettle on," the woman laughed.  
"Sven, this is my family; my mother, Lily, my father, Hayden and my little brother, Keenan," Alexa explained calmly.  
_The Pokémon are Cheryl the Gardevoir, Tidus the Typhlosion and Iara the Vaporeon,_ Ryder added.  
"Oh, howdy there," Sven greeted politely. "Glad to make your acquaintance. We, uh, didn't mean to barge in on you like this, but-"  
"Nonsense, you're perfectly welcome here," Lily smiled. Sven smiled and nodded.  
"Okay, shall we move on, pet?" he asked.  
"You're the one in charge here, Sven," Alexa laughed. She looked around the house. "Seems like everyone's settled in nicely."  
"Yep!" Keenan smiled. Alexa smiled towards Keenan before she, Ryder, Henry and Luxray walked across the room.  
"You look troubled, sweetheart," Hayden said abruptly. Alexa looked towards her father in astonishment. "Something on your mind?"  
"N-no, not at all," Alexa said nervously. "Just had a nightmare last night, that's all."  
"Hm. Oh, and how are you with Keith?" Hayden asked. "I don't want him doing anything to you that you don't want him to."  
"Dad!" Alexa scolded quietly as she blushed from humiliation. "He'd never do anything I don't want him to do to me!"  
"I'm just making sure," Hayden smiled. "I like to look out for you, Lexie, you've not been the same since you came home from-"  
"And on that note, we'll be going now!" Alexa exclaimed abruptly as she pulled Ryder and Sven with her towards the front door. She opened the door and exited with Ryder and Sven, with Henry and Luxray following. The door slammed shut. Hayden sighed.  
"Every time I try to ask her about it, she quickly changes the subject," he said with concern.  
"Then don't pressure her into telling you what happened to her in Sinnoh," Lily suggested. "But…she's not looked through the Spear Pillar's legend since."  
"Really? That used to be her favourite legend," Hayden said in astonishment.

_Meanwhile…_

Alexa, Ryder, Sven, Luxray and Henry entered the Boyleland Cave. Henry stepped forward, astonished.  
"Wow, this place is hotter than the desert! Is that pasta sauce bubbling over? What is this place?" he asked.  
"One, this is the Boyleland Volcano," Alexa answered.  
_And two, this is a volcano, where lava runs through,_ Ryder sighed. _This is not a giant pasta dish!_  
"If it was, the pasta would get burnt," Alexa laughed as she and Ryder walked alongside Sven, Henry and Luxray.

_RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!_

"Aagh!" Alexa winced with fright as she, Ryder, Sven, Henry and Luxray heard the ear-piercing screech. Henry shivered.  
"Never heard a cry like that before," Sven said calmly. "It's a Pokémon's cry, that's for sure, though. It's coming from further ahead, let's go." Sven, Luxray and Henry ran off, towards the far end of the pathway. Alexa and Ryder trailed after them; they looked rather hesitant.  
_Alex, that cry…you don't suppose it's…_  
"I'd like to think it was just my imagination, Ryder…but that's not going to work."  
Alexa and Ryder soon caught up with Sven and they proceeded together.

The group wound up in the Chroma Ruins. Ryder and Alexa looked around at the many gems embedded in the walls around them as they progressed towards a hole in the floor.

_RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!_

"Aaagh!" Alexa yelped with fright as the loud ear-piercing cry echoed through the cave. Sven, Henry, Luxray and Ryder approached the hole. Ryder gently pulled Alexa with him.  
_That sounded like an agonised cry,_ Ryder stated.  
"It came from down there, I think," Sven guessed. "Looks like we'll have to jump in. You ready, Henry?"  
"A-as a representative of the H-Haruba Village, I will jump in proudly!" Henry stated nervously.  
"We'll jump in together," Sven suggested. "Okay?"  
"Okay," Alexa nodded nervously.  
"Okay," Henry nodded.  
"On three," Sven nodded. "One. Two. Three!"  
Alexa, Ryder, Luxray, Sven and Henry jumped into the hole at the same time.

Everyone landed on their feet, deep within the Hippowdon Temple. Ryder looked around, but he froze when he looked towards the bridge ahead of the group.

_RING-RING-RING-RING!_

Alexa, Sven and Henry looked towards Alexa's styler curiously as Alexa picked up the incoming voicemail.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, Alexa, I'm getting signals indicating an incredibly strong Pokémon," Rhythmi said worriedly. "It's right in your vicinity! Be alert!" Rhythmi ended the communication just as Sven looked towards the bridge, after noticing Ryder's petrified state.  
"We finally meet," Sven said bluntly. Alexa, Henry and Luxray looked towards Sven in confusion before they looked towards the bridge. They were horrified to find Palkia standing on the bridge, with a small portal behind it. Palkia had a large bleeding cut on its left ankle.  
"Aaaaagh! I-it's huge!" Henry panicked.

_RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!_

Palkia roared in agony from the injury on its ankle. As the roar echoed through the entire room, a look of absolute terror slowly grew on Alexa's face as she beheld Palkia.

_A bipedal silhouette emerged from a portal and stood next to a quadruped silhouette. The bipedal silhouette lifted its head, and its figure revealed itself to be a Palkia. It roared furiously._

"Naaaaaaaagh!" Alexa screamed as she held onto her head with both hands and closed her eyes tightly. Ryder, Sven and Henry looked towards Alexa in astonishment upon hearing her petrified scream and saw her collapsing onto her knees. Sven and Ryder approached her.  
"Alexa, you okay!?" Sven asked worriedly.  
_Alex, snap out of it! Ryder cried._  
"Palkia! It's out of control!" Alexa screamed. She was extremely close to breaking into a fearful sob as tears slowly escaped her eyes. "It'll keep distorting space until the whole world is messed up! The world will be ruined!"

_SLAP!_

"Aah!" Sven slapped Alexa across the face with his right hand. Alexa was left with a pink mark on her left cheek.  
"Snap out of it, pet! If we can capture Palkia, it'll calm down and we can treat its injury!" Sven exclaimed. "That's why it's distorting space! Come on, we have to capture it!" Alexa kept her eyes tightly shut and looked away from Sven.  
"I can't do it! I can't face it, Sven, I just can't!" she wept. Sven and Ryder were astonished to hear Alexa's response. Ryder looked up at Sven.  
_I think Palkia's in too much pain to attack,_ he assumed. _I'll keep an eye on Alex, you should focus on Palkia._  
"If you say so," Sven said reluctantly. "Keep an eye on her." He looked and ran towards Palkia, Luxray running alongside him. Sven released his capture disc from his styler and began attempting to capture Palkia. Henry watched Sven keenly.

_Alex, you have to get that incident out of your head,_ Ryder whispered. _I know it's eating you alive, I can sense it! Your nightmare last night was related to it, wasn't it?_  
Alexa stayed on her knees, restraining herself from breaking into a sob. Ryder looked towards her with pity.  
_Talk to Keith about it,_ he advised softly. _He might be able to help you get over today's events._  
"Hey, that was surprisingly fast!" Sven exclaimed as he recalled his capture disc. Alexa and Ryder looked towards Sven and saw Palkia standing idly. Ryder helped Alexa onto her feet and led her and Henry towards Sven and Luxray.  
_You captured Palkia?_ Ryder asked.  
"Yeah, you were right; Palkia didn't even attack once," Sven smiled as he took out a bandage roll from his pocket. "Right, let's see what's ailing you. Hold steady, boy," he said gently as he carefully approached Palkia's injured ankle. Henry watched anxiously as Sven began wrapping the bandage around Palkia's ankle.

_RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!_

Alexa winced as Palkia roared in agony after the bandage touched the cut on its leg. Ryder held onto her gently. Sven sighed.  
"It's for you and the world's sakes. Put up with this much, will you?" he asked as he continued wrapping the bandage around Palkia's ankle. After a few seconds, Sven tied a knot with the bandages and stepped back. "All right, that's all done and good."  
Palkia looked down at its ankle and spotted the bandages wrapped around it.

_RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!_

Alexa winced again as Palkia roared gratifyingly. Palkia made its way towards the portal. Alexa opened her left eye to watch Palkia's exit, but Palkia stopped and looked back at her. As soon as she noticed Palkia was looking at her, she looked away from it with her eyes shut tightly. Palkia appeared to look concerned as it made its way into the portal. The portal shrunk and disappeared after Palkia walked into it.  
"Seems that Palkia's returned to its own place in space," Sven assumed. Alexa opened her eyes and looked ahead of her; she was breathing rather quickly, yet quietly, and looked frightened.

_Later…_

Sven, Henry, Luxray, Alexa and Ryder arrived in the Haruba Village, having walked from the Hippowdon Temple. Henry looked pleased.  
"Rangers, let me thank you! I thank you for that world trip! Oh, my, how splendid it was!" he said gratifyingly.  
_I wouldn't exactly call it a 'world' trip, since it was only around Almia,_ Ryder said unenthusiastically.  
"Even so, you have given this old man a new dream to go on a world trip with his son," Henry smiled. "I'll save up for it!"

_RING-RING-RING-RING!_

Sven's styler picked up an incoming voicemail. Alexa and Ryder watched reluctantly as Sven picked up the transmission.  
"Voicemail, voicemail, it's Professor Hastings," Hastings said. "Alexa, Sven, what was behind the peculiar state of affairs?"  
"Palkia," Sven calmly. The very mention of Palkia's name made Alexa wince with fright again. Ryder looked up at her worriedly as he held her hand.  
"P-Palkia, you say?! You've seen the legendary Pokémon Palkia with your own eyes?!" Hastings questioned in shock. Alexa held onto Ryder's paw.  
"Not just saw. Treated its injury," Sven added with a smile. Hastings murmured over the styler.  
"I'm green with envy! Even if it meant skipping out on the meeting, I should have chased after you," he grumbled.  
"Thank goodness you didn't," Alexa muttered.  
"Hm? Did you say something, Alexa?" Hastings questioned. Alexa looked away from Sven, just as he looked towards her with concern.  
"Professor, we're kind of busy here, I'll report later," he said quietly before he ended the communication. "Are you okay, pet?" he asked as he lowered his arm.  
"I hope so," Alexa answered in a low whisper.  
"It's okay, everything's back to the way it ought to be," Sven said reassuringly. "Furthermore, we've given Henry a new dream. Mission clear and then some, pet!"  
"Papa! Where were you?" asked an approaching young boy, dressed in a red and white T-shirt, blue jeans and a red baseball cap atop his head.  
_Huh; that must be Hank,_ Ryder assumed.  
"Oh, well, here and there with the Rangers," Henry began. "Oh, that's right, mustn't forget!" He searched his pockets. "It's a souvenir from up north," he smiled as he handed a clear jar to Hank. Hank smiled at the jar.  
"Wow! It's so clear! This water must be really tasty, but I won't drink it. I'm going to keep it! Thank you, papa!"  
"Though the snow's melted away, the feeling stays unchanged," Sven smiled. "Heh, maybe a distortion in space isn't a bad thing now and then."  
"Urk…!" Alexa winced. Sven looked towards her worriedly.

_Later…_

Alexa ran into the Union and up the first escalator. On the first floor of the Union, she brushed past Murph. Murph looked back at her in confusion.  
"Alexa?" he questioned as he watched her bolting towards her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. "What was that all about?"  
"What was what all about?" Keith asked as he descended from the escalator leading to the upper floor. Sven and Ryder arrived from the ground floor and approached Murph.  
"Hey, you haven't seen Alexa, have you?" Sven asked.  
"Alex? When did she get here?" Keith asked with curiosity.  
"Uh, about that…she just ran into her room," Murph said in bewilderment. "She didn't even look at me."  
"That doesn't really sound like Alex," Keith said worriedly. "Did you see if she was all right?"  
"Funny you should mention that; she and I were on a mission together, but…I don't know, she got pretty scared," Sven said with concern. Keith looked towards him worriedly.  
"Scared? What happened?"  
_Can you talk to her?_ Ryder asked. _I think she needs the comfort._ Keith looked towards Ryder.  
"Of course! I don't like seeing her so distressed," he agreed.  
"Good luck. I'm going to report our mission to Professor Hastings," Sven said as he walked past Keith.  
"Okay, back to work for me," Murph said as he walked towards and down the escalator, down towards the ground floor. Ryder approached Keith.  
_Please be gentle; today really scared her,_ he said worriedly.  
"You know I will," Keith nodded. He watched Ryder running up to the Operations room, after Sven.

Keith quietly approached the door to his bedroom. He was about to open the door when he suddenly stopped; he could hear the faint sound of Alexa's sobbing. The longer he waited, to listen to Alexa's crying, the more sadness he felt. He slowly opened the door and looked towards Alexa distraughtly; she was lying on his bed, with her face buried in one of the pillows, weeping sorrowfully. Keith quietly approached the bed, carefully sat himself upon it and looked towards Alexa. He gently stroked the back of her head, and Alexa looked up at him; her eyes were flooded with her anguished tears. As soon as she looked into his eyes, she flung herself at Keith and held onto him as she continued to weep. Keith cradled her in his arms.  
"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked delicately, in a gentle whisper.  
"P-Palkia…!" Alexa whimpered. "I-in the…Hippowdon Temple…!" Keith was left astonished at Alexa's tearful response. His astonishment subsided quickly, however, as he continued to cradle Alexa in his arms, gently stroking her hair and quietly shushing her.  
"It's okay, I've got you," he whispered softly. He gently kissed the top of Alexa's head as he continued to hold her close to him. "It's okay."

_To be continued…_


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight – Kincaid's Final Act**

"So what do you want to see us about?" Keith asked, who stood next to Alexa in front of Professor Hastings, who stood before Keith and Alexa in the Operations Room. Professor Hastings looked at the two Top Rangers with a firm seriousness about him.  
"We have received two reports; one from Boyleland, the other from Captain Puel of Pueltown," he explained.  
"Captain Puel?" Alexa questioned. Keith looked towards her.  
"He's one of the harbour's captains, and the one who takes people to the Puel Sea," he explained.  
"Correct," Hastings nodded. "He has reported his trademark ship as stolen," he explained further. Alexa and Keith looked towards him, as did Ryder and Buizel.  
_How did his boat get stolen?_ Ryder asked in bewilderment.  
"He doesn't know, and that's what we intend to investigate," Hastings replied.  
_But, by 'we', you mean either Alex or Keith, don't you?_ Ryder asked plainly. _You said you had a report from Boyleland as well._  
"Indeed I did. We have been informed of a child trapped in the Boyleland Cave," Hastings stated.  
"Which one? There's two," Alexa said with uncertainty.  
"Oh, yes. It's the one Barlow went into before he went missing over a month ago," Hastings said. "Regardless, Alexa, I want you to find that child." Keith suddenly looked at Alexa.  
"You don't suppose it's Keenan, do you?" he asked.  
"Nope," Alexa said quickly. "He doesn't like overly hot places, and Boyleland qualifies as an 'overly hot place' in my opinion."  
_Besides, how could he get there anyway?_ Ryder asked, somewhat sounding cocky.  
"Miles," Alexa answered, almost instantly.  
"Who?" Hastings asked with curiosity.  
"His Fearow," Alexa replied. "But, like I said, it's extremely unlikely that it's Keenan in that cave."  
"I see. Regardless, I want you to look for the child while you, Keith, are to investigate the disappearance of Captain Puel's ship," Hastings instructed.  
"Professor, are you sure you should send Alex to Boyleland?" Keith asked with concern. "I mean, given who's still out there, they might try something with her."  
"I'm aware of your concern, but that is why I am sending you to investigate the ship's disappearance," Hastings sighed. "If that ruffian is connected to either of these cases, he is most likely behind the ship's disappearance." Keith sighed.  
"Okay, fine." He looked towards Alexa, who, in turn, looked towards him. "Let me know if you need any help at all, okay? Or, at least let me know that your mission went well."  
"Keith, you know I can look after myself," Alexa said reassuringly.  
"I know, but I'm worried about you while he's still out there," Keith said with concern. "Look, promise me you'll contact me, okay?" Alexa smiled.  
"Yeah, okay. I promise," she agreed. "Good luck." Keith smiled at her gently and nodded.  
"You too," he said sweetly. Alexa gave Keith a quick kiss on his cheek as she ran passed him. Ryder stopped in front of Keith.  
_Stop worrying about her, she was a Pokémon Trainer after all,_ he advised. _Besides, she's got me to back her up._  
"Ryder, promise me you'll look after her, okay? Promise me," Keith insisted, with worry about his tone.  
_After last time, I'll promise myself I'll look after her while I'm at it,_ Ryder growled. _I swear, if Hairspray Head tries anything with our girl again, I'll fight harder and I won't let him swamp me again like that bloody four-armed duck-faced Pokémon did!_  
"Um…just protecting her will suffice, Ryder," Keith said uneasily.  
_All right, I'll fight if necessary then,_ Ryder nodded as he ran after Alexa. Keith watched Ryder following Alexa.  
"I understand and respect your concern for her, Keith, but Ryder has a point," Hasting smiled. Keith looked towards him in confusion. "Don't fret over her."  
"I'll try not to, but I can't help it. I'd, uh…I'd better go now." Keith ran down the escalator. Hastings shook his head.  
"That boy worries about Alexa far too much," he muttered to himself, just as Erma arrived from the escalator on the opposite side of the room.  
"And he is right to," she said abruptly. Hastings looked towards her as she approached him. "Or have you forgotten that Alexa is now more than Keith's closest friend?"

_Elsewhere…_

A Staraptor flew over the ocean, with Alexa and Ryder upon its back. Ryder sat in front of Alexa and looked down at his reflection in the ocean below. Alexa, meanwhile, looked ahead, where the Staraptor was flying, and watched Boyleland Island steadily coming into view.  
_Alex, do you think Kincaid is actually behind the ship's disappearance?_ Ryder asked curiously. Alexa subtly winced upon hearing Kincaid's name.  
"Why?" she asked.  
_Academic curiosity,_ Ryder answered. _Professor Hastings said Kincaid might be more likely to be involved with the ship's disappearance, but what do you think?_  
"Unlikely, to be honest," Alexa said timidly. "He might still have his other resources. How else was he able to escape the Oil Field Hideout?"  
_Good point._  
The Staraptor slowed down as it approached Boyleland. Upon landing, Alexa and Ryder dismounted and the Staraptor flew away. Coincidentally, another Staraptor was loitering around near Boyleland's Ranger Station. Alexa and Ryder made their way into the Boyleland Cave.

Meanwhile, Keith and Buizel had arrived at the Puel Town Harbour. They saw three very similar-looking ships, with differing colours; a red and white boat, a yellow and white boat and a blue and white boat.  
"Captain Puel's boat is normally here, isn't it? Oh great…where am I supposed to begin?" he asked in a sigh.  
"Bui…" Buizel sighed. He followed Keith as he approached the four ports, specifically the empty port between the blue and white boat and the red and white boat.

_Meanwhile…_

Alexa and Ryder arrived at the former Team Dim Sun harbour. They ventured further inside, towards the large crates that remained after the harbour was exposed.  
"Hello?! Is anyone here?!" Alexa called.  
_It's okay, we don't bite! Well, I do, but I won't bite you, I promise!_  
"Not helping, Ryder," Alexa sighed as she looked around. "Huh?" Ryder looked up at Alexa before he turned his attention to what she was looking at; a cyan blue and white boat was moored and floating in the water right in front of them.  
_Is that…?_  
"Hang on." Alexa held up her styler and established contact with Keith via voicemail. "Keith? Keith, it's me."  
"Alex! I knew you'd contact me!" Keith sighed with relief over voicemail. "What's happening, are you all right?"  
"Confused, if anything; there's a boat moored here," Alexa replied.  
"Huh? What colour scheme does it have? The other ships here have different colours," Keith said.  
"Cyan blue and white," Alexa replied.  
"That must be Captain Puel's! Captain Wail's is the dark blue and white boat! What's Captain Puel's boat doing there?!" Keith asked in bewilderment.  
"I dunno, but I'm not finding any child in distress either," Alexa said.  
"Really?"  
"Something's not right, I don't like it," Alexa said quietly. "I'm going to report this to Professor Hastings and-"

_BOOM!_

"Aagh!" Alexa gave out a cry of pain as a strange rainbow-coloured beam of energy hit her styler, causing a small explosion upon impact. The attack had apparently come from the ceiling. Alexa held onto her injured arm and collapsed on one knee as her styler fell to the ground. Ryder ran over to her with concern.  
_Alex, are you all right, what happened?!_ he asked hastily.  
"That would be a Signal Beam attack," a familiar, yet unwelcome voice replied. Alexa and Ryder looked towards where the voice came from; Alexa looked rather frightened, but Ryder snarled angrily.

_Elsewhere…_

"Alex? Alex?!" Keith exclaimed towards his styler. He closed it, looking worried. "What the hell?! Captain Puel's boat is at Boyleland?"  
"Bui, bui, bui," Buizel added.  
"There's got to be a reason for this…" Keith pondered.  
"Bui! Bui, bui!" Buizel cried.  
"Maybe…oh, God!" Keith opened his styler again and established a voicemail contact with the Ranger Union. "Voicemail, it's me, Keith! This is serious, I think Alex's been set up!"

_Meanwhile…_

Alexa stood up properly, holding her right arm, as Kincaid revealed himself from the shadows of the crates on the other side of the area. Ryder continued snarling as he stepped in front of Alexa protectively. Ryder held Alexa's broken styler in one of his paws.  
"Hello again, Alexa. It's been a while," Kincaid smirked. "Almost a fortnight, I believe."  
_Spare me the introductions, please. Let's get out of here!_ Ryder gently took Alexa's left hand and they turned to run towards the exit, only to find another familiar and unwanted face blocking their way after having closed off the harbour from the cave with a large crate.  
"Oh, no, there's no chance of escape this time," Kincaid said smugly. Heath smirked as he advanced towards Alexa. Alexa and Ryder stepped back, but they had eventually backed themselves into a corner. Ice and Lavana joined Kincaid and Heath in cornering Alexa and Ryder. Ryder stepped in front of Alexa, growling furiously as he held out his arms, practically trapping Alexa between him and the corner behind her. Ice gave out a small laugh.  
"You're not going to take any chances this time, are you, Lucario?" he asked casually.  
_After last time? You can bet your life I won't!_ Ryder said angrily.  
"Does that mean we'll have to take you down again? This, I'll enjoy," Ice shrugged. Ryder's growling intensified.

_Elsewhere…_

Keith and Buizel were at the Ranger Union, talking to Professor Hastings, Barlow, Sven and Erma. Keith looked completely anxious.  
"It's just as I said! Alex told me Captain Puel's boat is at Boyleland! At the old Dim Sun Harbour!" Keith explained. "She had just told me she was about to report it to you when the connection suddenly broke! I think something's happened to her, I need to find her!"  
"I pray she isn't hurt," Erma said quietly.  
"Indeed. This is extremely worrying, especially if one considers that Kincaid and the Sinis Trio are at large," Hastings pondered.  
"I think it was a set up!" Keith stated.  
"How so?" Barlow asked.  
"Here's what I think of this; Kincaid stole Captain Puel's boat – or one of the boats moored at the harbour, at least, I don't think he cared which one he took – just so a report could be made to the Union! He took the boat to the Hidden Harbour in Boyleland and made a false report to the Union about a child being trapped there! He did so because he must've guessed that Alex and I would be on hand to investigate the two reports, and while I investigate the ship's disappearance, he'd go ahead with his plan and ambush Alex! Without me to help her! Don't you get it?! He wanted to come up with a plan to separate us, so he could capture Alex without me to get in his way!"  
"Do you suppose this hypothesis of yours would also apply if Alexa had been sent to investigate the ship's disappearance?" Hastings asked.  
"Even if it does, I don't bloody care!" Keith yelled in frustration. "Look, my girl's probably in danger right now, and I need to go and help her out of it!"

_At the Hidden Harbour…_

Ryder continued to hold his ground, protectively standing in front of Alexa as he growled furiously at Kincaid, Heath, Ice and Lavana.  
"Give up; there's no hope of escape this time. Heath's blocked the exit, and the only way out is with us," Kincaid said maliciously. "I'll spare you any pain if you let Alexa come with us."  
_I would tell you what I'm thinking right now, but there's a lady present,_ Ryder growled.  
"And they say chivalry is dead," Lavana said tauntingly.  
_I'm just being a faithful friend. Not that you know what I'm talking about; you walked off when the others were instructed to go after us when Sven's Luxray led us to his boat!_ Ryder shouted.  
"Yes, and, believe me, she had a very harsh grilling for that," Kincaid sighed. "But Lavana's incompetence has no bearing on the matter at hand. Give yourself up, Alexa."  
"N-no way! Why can't you leave me alone?!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"Because, my dear Alexa, you ran all over Almia to stop my plans, and Team Dim Sun. You and the mutt standing in front of you," Kincaid answered rudely. Alexa was left insulted.  
"Just because Ryder's not a pure-breed Lucario, that doesn't give you the right to call him a mutt in such an insulting manner!" She fumed.  
"Chill, Alexa, chill," Ice said calmly. "Just come quietly, all right? Spare yourself all of this fuss. I'll even give you an Ice Cream Soda."  
"I don't even LIKE Ice Cream Soda!" Alexa snapped.  
"All right, all right, no need to lose your cool," Ice shrugged. "Look, come quietly and we'll go easy on you."  
_I'll believe that when I see a Voltorb using Mega Punch on a Mismagius!_ Ryder snarled furiously.  
"Enough casual banter. I will say this once more; step aside," Kincaid said sternly.  
_Like. Hell. I. Will,_ Ryder said spitefully. _I made a promise, and I'm keeping it!_  
"Is that right?" Kincaid questioned, raising an eyebrow.  
"To Keith? I bet it's to Keith, it's to Keith, isn't it?" Lavana asked teasingly.  
_To myself, if you really must know, you filthy little dolly,_ Ryder said rudely.  
"What do you want from me?!" Alexa asked interrogatively, though with fear about her voice.

_At the same time…_

"All right, Keith, but I am not going to let you go alone," Hastings said finally. Keith looked at Hastings in confusion.  
"Huh?"  
"This is possibly the only chance we will get at finally apprehending Kincaid and the Sinis Trio once and for all," Hastings explained. "At least, at the present; who knows when another opportunity will come? No, I want to ensure that they are arrested this time."  
"So, what are you suggesting?" Keith asked. Hastings looked towards Sven and Barlow.  
"Barlow, Sven, I want you two to go with Keith," he said. "However, I want two more Rangers to go with you, is that clear?"  
"I can give Wendy a buzz, no problem," Sven agreed.  
"I know another Ranger who can help," Barlow corroborated.  
"Excellent, call them," Hastings said firmly. "I just pray that we can get everything together before Kincaid hurts Alexa. I, for one, do not want a repeat of what transpired almost a fortnight ago." Keith clenched his fists subtly.  
"Hang on, Alex…" Keith whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, Kincaid laughed at Alexa's question. He, Heath, Ice and Lavana continued to corner Alexa and Ryder.  
"Did you not learn anything from last time? I want the Pokémon Rangers off of our backs," Kincaid responded. "Since holding you hostage worked last time-"  
"Almost worked," Alexa corrected abruptly. "Keith saw through your deceit."  
"Because you managed to tell him!" Kincaid fumed.  
"Almost," Ice corrected.  
"Indeed, but Keith still saw through it, like she said," Kincaid sighed. "But this time, things will be completely different."  
"So you're going to kidnap me again? Bloody hell, Kincaid, that's so redundant!" Alexa complained. "I mean, come on! You already tried that once before, and it didn't work! What makes you think doing it again will work for you this time?!"  
"It's not so much repeating myself, but rather going about it in a different way that will prevent you from ruining a perfect plan," Kincaid said calmly.  
"Even so, it won't work! I've already contacted Keith about the missing ship! He'll work out that I'm in trouble because of how you cut off our communication and broke my styler!" Alexa exclaimed. "Knowing Keith, he's already suspected that this whole thing is a set up, just so you could play déjà vu and kidnap me without him getting in your way!"  
"Brilliant deduction, Alexa, but that won't save you," Kincaid smirked.  
_That'll be my job if it has to be!_ Ryder declared.  
"And what makes you think you can this time?" Lavana asked tauntingly.  
"Quiet, Lavana," Kincaid commanded quietly. "Now, Alexa, even if Keith is suspecting this is a set up right at this very moment, he can't save you. He's fallen for it too; you see, we stole one of Puel Harbour's boats just to give the Ranger Union something else to investigate. I knew they'd send Keith because, unlike you, he doesn't know his way around the Boyleland cave."  
"That didn't stop me from coming here the first time, though, did it? Remember? Barlow?" Alexa questioned. "You really need to rehearse that some more, because 'not knowing his way around the Boyleland cave' is no excuse."  
"Regardless, it separated you from Keith, allowing the four of us to confront you in peace," Kincaid said sternly. "Now, we can finally take you away and we can get the Ranger Union off our backs."  
"Like I said, that's redundant," Alexa sighed. "Who wants to see that happening all over again? Huh?"  
"I do," Kincaid replied quickly.  
"Why?!"  
"Because I prefer you with your mouth shut," Kincaid said, with annoyance about his tone. "You couldn't say anything or do anything, and I hope to make sure of that again. And when I make my ransom call to the Ranger Union, I'll make sure you don't interrupt like you did last time."  
"That won't happen, because I'm not going with you! Honestly, it'll get clichéd and ridiculous if you keep trying to abduct me, just leave me alone!" Alexa yelled angrily.

_At the Union…_

"Barlow and I have informed our contacts," Sven said, with a smile on his face. "Both of them will meet us at Boyleland, so we don't have to wait up for them."  
"Fantastic!" Erma smiled.  
"All right then. Keith, Barlow, Sven, I don't need to remind you of the seriousness of your mission; Alexa must be recovered at any cost!" Hastings stated. "I'm positive Ryder is looking after her to the best of his abilities, but there is only so much he can do! Ultimately, you three, and the other two Rangers meeting you at Boyleland, are the only ones who can effectively help Alexa! Now go! Alexa needs you!"  
"Right!" Keith, Barlow and Sven nodded. Keith sprinted out of the Operations room, with Sven, Barlow, Buizel, Makuhita and Luxray in pursuit. Hastings and Erma watched them leave.  
"I hope Alexa's safe," Erma said with concern.  
"Indeed. We all do," Hastings agreed.

At the same time, Kincaid had given off a small huff. Ice smirked and shrugged.  
"No can do, Alexa," he stated. "You're what we need to keep the Union off our backs."  
"I'm what you WANT is more like it," Alexa said unkindly.  
_It goes against every instinct in my body, but I will hurt you if I have to. Any one of you,_ Ryder growled.  
"Ooh, not very friendly," Ice said sarcastically.  
"Alexa, this is your final chance, I am getting extremely impatient. Come quietly, and we will make this easier for you," Kincaid demanded with frustration.  
"There is absolutely no way that I will allow myself to be held hostage by a cape-wearing, hairspray abusing hallway hater, a suave smart-mouthed blue boy, a pink obsessed Barbie girl and an idiotic, bumbling, shirtless foreigner with a Hariyama overbite!" Alexa shouted loudly. "Not again!"  
"Alexa, Alexa, Alexa…insults will get you nowhere fast," Kincaid sighed as he shook his head.  
"Boss, now, we do it, yes?" Heath questioned.  
"Indeed," Kincaid agreed as he took out a Miniremo unit from behind his back. He set it up in front of him. "And now is the perfect time too; with her styler broken, she's defenceless."  
_Don't be so sure; I'm not without bite, and I'll take on whatever you throw at us!_ Ryder declared.  
"This time, you'd be biting off more than you can chew," Kincaid said as he and the Sinis Trio stepped back. Kincaid typed into his Miniremo.

_BOOM!_

A large Metagross fell from the ceiling and landed in between Kincaid and the Sinis Trio and Ryder and Alexa. The Metagross was under the Miniremo's control, as it looked somewhat dazed. Ryder was mildly startled at Metagross's sudden appearance, but kept his ground regardless. Alexa was also startled. The Metagross faced Alexa and Ryder.  
"META!" it cried, in a deep voice.  
"By the way, Alexa, where do you think that Signal Beam attack came from, hm?" Kincaid asked curiously.  
"I-I'm going to guess Metagross," Alexa replied quietly.  
"You guessed correctly," Kincaid smirked. "Now, all of this banter is getting on my nerves."  
"My apologies," Alexa sarcastically apologised.  
"If you won't come quietly, I'll have to take you by force!" Kincaid exclaimed angrily. "Metagross, attack with-"

_BOOM!_

Two Lairon broke into the harbour; through the metal door and the crate Heath had placed to obscure the exit. Kincaid, Heath, Lavana and Ice were horrified at this, but Alexa and Ryder were relieved at the distraction. They then saw Keith racing into the harbour, towards Alexa, followed by Sven, Barlow, Wendy and Crawford. Keith stepped in front of Ryder and held out his styler.  
"Capture on!" he yelled as the capture disc escaped his styler. As the capture disc circled around Metagross, Crawford, Barlow, Sven and Wendy rounded up Kincaid and the Sinis Trio, eventually cornering them in a different corner.  
"You four aren't going anywhere this time!" Sven stated. "You're going down, for good this time!"  
"Damn…" Kincaid cussed under his breath.

Metagross briefly shone in a white light and Kincaid's Miniremo unit exploded as Keith's capture disc was recalled back into his styler. As the Metagross casually walked off, Keith faced Alexa, with a look of worry about him.  
"Alex, are you all right?" he asked. Alexa smiled warmly at him. Ryder happily moved out of Alexa's way, allowing her to approach Keith. Ryder then watched as Alexa quickly, yet gently, pressed her lips against Keith's. She delicately ended her kiss and looked lovingly into his eyes.  
"I knew you'd come. What I didn't know was…whether you'd come alone or not," she said quietly. Keith gave off a quiet laugh.  
"Professor's orders; he wanted to seize Kincaid while we had the chance to," he explained as he stroked Alexa's cheek with his right finger. "He wasn't sure if there would be another chance, so he took this one. I'm just glad you're not hurt."  
"Oh," Alexa lost her smile. "I-I'm not…um…" Alexa looked down at her right arm; her styler was missing, as Ryder continued to hold onto it, but the explosion from earlier had left a bruise on her arm. Keith looked down at her arm and spotted the bruise.  
"What happened?" he asked with concern.  
"A Signal Beam attack hit my styler; it exploded on contact," Alexa answered quietly. Keith ever so gently raised Alexa's right arm to get a closer look at the bruise. "It was how our communication ended so quickly."  
"Does it hurt?" Keith asked.  
"I don't think it's too bad. Nothing's broken anyway. Other than my styler," Alexa replied. Keith gently raised Alexa's arm a little bit more and planted an extremely light kiss on the bruise. He faced Alexa with a gentle smile on his face.  
"You'll be all right, Alex. And don't worry about your styler, that can be repaired easily," he said reassuringly. Alexa smiled warmly towards him. Keith returned the warm smile.

Kincaid watched Keith and Alexa with disgust as Sven was putting a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, behind his back.  
"Those two make me sick," he grumbled.  
"Shame; she's a very nice young lady, and he's the perfect fella for her," Sven retaliated playfully.  
"Good God…" Kincaid winced as Sven lifted him up onto his feet. Wendy had apprehended Lavana, Crawford restrained Ice and Barlow handled Heath. Sven looked towards Keith and Alexa.  
"Keith!" he called. Keith, Alexa and Ryder faced Sven in confusion. "We'll use Captain Puel's boat to get back to Pueltown and get these guys into custody. You okay to take Pet back to the Union?"  
"No problem," Keith nodded.  
_Using the boat they stole against them? Oooh, that's sweet irony!_ Ryder smirked.  
"Indeed," Sven laughed. "Take care of them, yeah, Ryder?"  
_Aye-aye, sir!_ Ryder playfully replied as he saluted Sven. Sven laughed as he and Kincaid climbed aboard Captain Puel's ship. While Sven was getting ready to leave, Ryder led Buizel, Keith and Alexa out of the harbour.

_Outside…_

Ryder, Alexa, Keith and Buizel exited the Boyleland cave and made their way towards the Ranger Station, thus towards the loitering Staraptor. Without warning, Keith had fired his capture disc from his styler and captured the Staraptor within mere seconds. The Staraptor flew towards Keith as his capture disc was recalled into his styler. He then looked towards Alexa.  
"Ready to go back to the Union?" he asked. Alexa gave him a nod while Ryder mounted on the Staraptor's back. Keith approached Alexa and lifted her off of her feet, much to her astonishment. While holding Alexa in his arms, Keith managed to mount on the Staraptor's back, and the Staraptor flew away from Boyleland.

Ryder looked down at the ocean beneath him as the Staraptor flew. Alexa held onto Keith as he held onto her. Alexa smiled at Keith warmly.  
"Keith? Did you figure out what had happened to me?" she asked.  
"Yeah. I was really worried that it was all a plot for Kincaid to ambush you," Keith replied. "It was a possibility, but there was no way I was going to wait and see what would happen. I couldn't do that to you. What exactly happened anyway?"  
"Nothing. It was just banter, mostly," Alexa answered.  
"So it was just an exchange of words for a good while?" Keith questioned.  
"Yeah, I was trying to stall them for as long as I could before Kincaid whipped out his Miniremo and Metagross," Alexa explained. "Although I didn't know he had the Metagross until it showed up. Kincaid said he wanted to do what he did before; hold me hostage to keep the Union off of his back."  
"He said that? Bloody hell, Alex, he must've been desperate!" Keith said with disgust.  
"Redundant was how I put it," Alexa said quietly. "But, yeah, I think he was. He said he was going to do things differently to make sure I wouldn't interrupt like I did last time."  
"Like that'd work. Hey, were you okay being around him again?" Keith asked with concern.  
"I was a little nervous at first, but, somehow, I think I got over it," Alexa replied, almost in bewilderment. Keith kissed Alexa on her cheek and smiled at her warmly.  
"Great! Once we get back to the Union, we'll get your arm looked at, okay?"  
"Keith, it's just a bruise, it's not a broken arm," Alexa laughed.  
"I know that; I just think it should still be looked at, you know? Then we'll see if we can get your styler fixed."  
"If you say so. Thank you," Alexa smiled warmly. Keith gently pulled Alexa closer to him, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder.

_Later…_

Professor Hastings and Erma stood in front of Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel in the Operations room. Alexa had a bandage around her right arm, but Hastings and Erma looked pleased. Hastings held Alexa's broken styler in his hand.  
"We've had the report from Sven; Kincaid and the Sinis Trio have officially been taken into custody," he said happily.  
"And what's more, Keith, you managed to get to Alexa before they could do her further harm," Erma added with a smile.  
"I have Alex to thank for that; she told me she stalled Kincaid for a good while," Keith smiled as he gently placed his arm around Alexa's waist. He gently pulled Alexa a little closer to him as she smiled.  
"That was very smart of you, dear," Erma complimented towards Alexa. Alexa smiled nervously as she blushed.  
"Yeah, well, uh…I-I was trying to see if I could buy Keith some time; I knew he already figured everything out at that point," she said modestly.  
"And it worked," Hastings smiled. "Incidentally, the fact that you were not seriously hurt is a great relief."  
"Yeah, well…the same can't be said for my styler, though, unfortunately," Alexa said nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck.  
"I will repair it personally. Incidentally, Keith, I believe you and Alexa should get some rest; the both of you have had a long day, I'd imagine," Hastings advised.  
"Yes. Thank you, Professor," Alexa said politely.  
_Personally, I would've preferred our mission to be a hoax rather than a trap,_ Ryder sighed. Erma chuckled.  
"You're probably right, dear," she said kindly.

_Later on…_

Ryder and Buizel were sound asleep on Alexa's old bed, huddling next to one another. Alexa lay on top of Keith's bed, in her lilac pyjamas, looking relaxed. Keith entered the room from the en suite, in his white vest and black pyjama pants, with a bottle of water in his hand. He looked towards Ryder and Buizel.  
"Hey, where's Kyle?" he asked in confusion.  
"Oh, he's staying with Keenan for the moment," Alexa replied as she began stretching. She made some moaning sounds as she stretched. Keith watched her stretching and smirked.  
"Alex, is it just me or do you sound like you're purring when you stretch like that?" he asked playfully. Alexa stopped stretching and looked up at Keith in confusion.  
"Purring? What do you take me for, a cat?" she asked. Keith placed the water bottle on the chest of drawers next to the bed and sat down next to Alexa.  
"If you keep doing that, then I just might," he said playfully as he continued to smirk at her. "If you're not careful, I might start petting you."  
"You stroke my hair, isn't that enough for you?" Alexa asked, laughing slightly.  
"Probably not, Kitten," Keith smirked. Alexa looked at Keith in confusion.  
"Huh? Kitten?"  
"Yep. As of now, it's my special nickname for you," Keith said as he climbed into bed and lay next to Alexa. "I think it's kinda cute."  
"I-If you say so," Alexa said nervously.  
"I do," Keith smirked. He gently kissed Alexa's cheek and his smirk warmed up into a loving smile. "You don't mind, do you?"  
"N-no, not at all. But if you start making me wear a cat collar, I'll-"  
Keith quickly, yet gently, planted his lips on Alexa's, quickly cutting off her sentence. Alexa relaxed and held onto Keith as they kissed. Keith eventually held onto her gently, and moved one hand to the back of Alexa's head. As Keith gently, yet slowly, released the kiss, he moved his hand from the back of Alexa's head to stroke her cheek with his finger as he smiled lovingly towards her, transfixed in the gaze of her vivid fuchsia eyes. She was smiling sweetly at Keith as she blushed.  
"You'll what?" Keith asked quietly, to prevent the tender atmosphere around him and Alexa from being completely spoiled. Alexa's smile grew slightly.  
"Never mind," she whispered. She and Keith closed their eyes softly as he drew himself close to her, planting his lips on hers again. They kissed for a good few minutes before they delicately released their kiss and looked tenderly at one another, eye to eye.

"I must say…you're extremely gentle when you kiss," Keith said sweetly. "I love it."  
"You think so? I've been told I'm really gentle in that department," Alexa said quietly. "You're really gentle too."  
"Really? You're the first girl I've actually kissed…like that," Keith admitted as he began to blush.  
"Really? I would never have guessed," Alexa said quietly, in astonishment. "Actually…you're…you're the first boy I've kissed…l-like that," she admitted as her blushing intensified slightly.  
"Really? Wow…I had no idea…" Keith said quietly. "You're fantastic…"  
"Thank you…I can say the same to you too," Alexa said tenderly. "Oh, before I forget…"  
"What is it, Kitten?" Keith asked quietly. Alexa's smile grew a little bit.  
"Thank you…for saving my life," she thanked lovingly. Keith smiled a little.  
"For you, Alex…it's always a pleasure…" Once more, Keith and Alexa closed their eyes softly as they drew themselves close to one another. Once again, Keith's lips and Alexa's lips had met. They held their kiss for what felt like a blissful eternity before they released one another and drifted off to a peaceful sleep. They didn't need the duvet, which they lay on top of, to keep themselves warm; they held onto one another.

_To be continued…_


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty Nine – Dialga in Hia Valley!?**

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

"N'aaagh!" Alexa screamed as she held her head with both hands and closed her eyes tightly. She, Wendy , Ryder and Staraptor were high up in the Almia Castle, allegedly confronting something. Wendy and Ryder faced Alexa with concern.  
"Alexa, what's wrong?" Wendy asked.  
"Can't…can't face it!" Alexa cried.

_A young blonde girl and a Prussian blue Riolu looked up at two large silhouettes in horror. The bipedal silhouette, Palkia roared furiously. The quadruped silhouette raised its head, revealing its identity; Dialga. Dialga roared wrathfully as it lifted its head._

"I-I just can't!" Alexa cried.  
"Come on, Alexa, we have to!" Wendy said worriedly. "Otherwise, it'll-"  
"Distort time, I know that, Wendy, but I can't face it!" Alexa yelled.  
"It's not like you to be so frightened, Alexa! Come on, you can do this," Wendy encouraged.

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

Alexa winced in terror upon hearing Dialga's agonised roar, but Ryder, Wendy and Staraptor looked towards the Dialga in confusion; Dialga had a large cut on its front left leg, which was bleeding.  
"Dialga? What's it-"

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

"Uh oh! I-I think it's-"

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

Dialga, out of agony, fired an indigo beam at Alexa and Wendy. Ryder and Staraptor moved in front of Alexa and Wendy, respectively, to protect them from the dangerous attack.

_BOOM!_

…

…

…

_Alex? Alex! Come on, girl, wake up!_

Alexa moaned softly as she slowly opened her eyes. She gradually sat up, and found herself on top of a plush bed. She looked around, and found herself in a virtually bare bedroom of sorts.  
"Hey, w-where are we?" she asked in confusion.  
_I dunno, but this is where we ended up,_ Ryder shrugged. Alexa spotted a large bruise on Ryder's left hip.  
"Y-you're hurt…" Ryder looked down at his bruise before he smiled back at Alexa.  
_Oh, don't worry about it; Steel type Pokémon are resistant to Dragon type attacks,_ he said cheerfully. He soon frowned. _Kinda worried about Staraptor, though._  
"Ryder, what happened?" Alexa asked, with fear hinted in her voice. Ryder's ears dropped as he looked at Alexa with concern.  
_All I can remember is that we were confronting Dialga,_ he said solemnly. Alexa winced upon hearing Dialga's name and slightly shivered with fright.  
"W-we were…?"  
_With Wendy, yeah,_ Ryder nodded. _Dialga tried to attack you, but Staraptor and I protected you two._  
"B-but what're we doing here?" Alexa asked as she looked around the room again. "It looks like Keenan's room, but…bland."  
_Looks like we're in Chicole Village,_ Ryder assumed. _I suppose the only way to find out is to go outside._  
"I-I guess," Alexa nodded. She stood up from the bed and walked down the stairs, with Ryder following closely.

"Hey, down here looks bland too," Alexa observed; the ground floor was deprived of furniture, with only the built-in kitchen sink on the entire floor. Ryder looked around.  
_Okay, this is starting to creep me out,_ he said quietly. _Where is everybody? Did they move again?_  
"Yeah, but they would've told me if they were going to sell this place; otherwise, they wouldn't have taken all of the furniture with them," Alexa explained. "They're back in Violet City now, though, but what's with the lack of furniture?"  
_Something's going on and I don't like it,_ Ryder said as he and Alexa made their way out of the house.

_Outside…_

Alexa and Ryder exited the house and instantly spotted an unfamiliar sign posted nearby.  
"OI! What do you think you're doing?!" asked an approaching property manager. He confronted Alexa, looking severely unimpressed. "What were you thinking, squatting in a vacant household?"  
"Pardon me?" Alexa asked in bewilderment.  
"This house has been sold to a nice family, and trespassing on this property will not be tolerated," the manager explained. "Now scram, the pair of you!"  
_Sounds like someone's severely underpaid,_ Ryder growled angrily as he gently took Alexa's hand in his paw and walked away from the building.  
"But Ryder, doesn't that seem odd to you? My dad bought that house!" Alexa exclaimed quietly. Ryder looked up at her in confusion.  
_You don't think that-_  
"You look like an intelligent young man," complimented a strangely familiar voice. Startled after hearing the voice, Ryder and Alexa hid behind the nearest house and observed Ollie having a conversation with a very familiar looking individual. Ryder snarled angrily, yet quietly.  
_Kincaid…! How did he break out of jail and why don't we know about it!?_  
"Wait, Ryder, listen," Alexa whispered.  
"How would you like to work for me?" Kincaid asked.  
"I, um…"  
"It's very simple, all you'd have to do is fuel up some machinery," Kincaid added. "Plus, you'd be getting the same salary as an Altru Inc employee."  
"Seriously?! The same salary?! As an Altru Inc employee?!" Ollie questioned in astonishment.  
"That's right," Kincaid nodded. "Of course, you'd be travelling a lot, so don't count on returning home anytime soon." Alexa and Ryder looked at one another in astonishment.  
_Kincaid recruited Ollie?!_  
"That explains how the Vien Forest fire started; Kincaid told Ollie to fuel the Gigaremo units," Alexa said quietly.  
_I guess the attack that hit us was Dialga's Roar of Time; it sent us back in time,_ Ryder deduced. He and Alexa made their way towards the pathway leading out of the village. _Now all we need to do is find-_

"Alexa!" Wendy cried. Ryder and Alexa looked up and found Staraptor, with Wendy mounted on his back, gently descending to the ground in front of them.  
_Well that saved us some time. Staraptor, are you all right?_ Ryder asked.  
"Star," Staraptor looked towards a bruise on the right side of his underbelly before he looked towards Ryder. "Staraptor."  
"That's good to hear," Alexa said with relief. "Wendy, how about you?"  
"I'm fine, but we've got to get back to Almia Castle and Dialga," Wendy said quickly. Alexa winced. "I think Dialga-"  
_Sent us back in time, we know,_ Ryder said abruptly. _We just saw Kincaid talking to Ollie, which was what started the Vien Forest fire._  
"Oh. Anyway, Alexa, we have to face Dialga again," Wendy said.  
"I-I can't…!" Alexa whimpered. Wendy looked at Alexa in confusion.  
"Why? What's the matter?"  
"I…I'm scared…!" Alexa replied fearfully. Ryder looked up at Alexa with concern.  
"Of Dialga?" Wendy asked gently. Alexa nodded in response.  
"I-I can't face it…!" Wendy moved closer to Alexa and carefully placed her hand on her shoulder.  
"Alexa, I know you're scared, but if we don't see this mission through, we won't be able to return to our own time," Wendy said softly. "Come on; I know you can pull through. If you can pull through Operation Brighton, you can pull through this." Alexa sighed.  
"O-okay…" she agreed reluctantly. "I-I'll try…"  
"Attagirl," Wendy smiled. "Oh, that reminds me." Wendy held up Alexa's styler. Alexa and Ryder spotted it.  
_When did that come off?_ Ryder asked.  
"Presumably when Dialga attacked. Anyway, I think it belongs with you, Alexa," Wendy smiled as she handed Alexa's styler back to her. Alexa clipped it back onto her right arm.  
"T-thank you," Alexa thanked shakily.  
"No worries. Okay, so, how to get back to Almia Castle…"  
_Same way we did the first time; you and Alex ride on Staraptor's back and I travel Talon Class,_ Ryder smirked.  
"Fair enough," Wendy shrugged. She and Alexa mounted onto Staraptor's back, with Wendy sitting in front of Alexa. Staraptor ascended from the ground and began to fly off. Ryder grabbed Staraptor's talons and allowed himself to be lifted into the air along with Staraptor.

_Eventually…_

Staraptor gently descended towards a snowy pathway somewhere in the Almia Castle. Ryder released his grip on Staraptor's talons and dropped onto the snow. He moved out of the way before Staraptor landed on the snow and allowed Wendy and Alexa to dismount from his back.  
"Thanks, Staraptor," Wendy said as she patted Staraptor's head.

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

Alexa winced as Dialga's pain-filled roar echoed through the entire castle. Concerned, Wendy looked towards the open doorway.  
"That's Dialga's crying…it must be suffering…we have to help it this time, Alexa," she said worriedly.  
"O-okay," Alexa said shakily as she reluctantly followed Wendy and Staraptor through the doorway. Ryder followed on.

Alexa, Wendy and the Pokémon entered an indoor corridor. The first door to their left was blocked by a small avalanche of snow, and the second door to their left was blocked by a strange wall with eerie purple markings. Wendy and Alexa approached the door.  
"Looks like we'll have to get that Mismagius again," Wendy sighed.  
_But to do that, we'd need the two Vulpix around here and battle our way around a Haunter and a Weavile just to get the bloody thing!_ Ryder moaned. _Step aside and let me give it a try!_ Ryder stood in front of the door and held out both of his paws. With his eyes and paws glowing in a cyan blue aura, Ryder glared at the door and focused. Within seconds, the strange wall opened and disappeared. Wendy smiled.  
"Well that certainly saved us some time," she complimented. She, Staraptor and Ryder walked through the door. Alexa reluctantly followed.

Inside the door was a large room with an extremely icy floor. On the floor were several large ice structures and some Pokémon wandering around; there were two Swinub, two Walrein, two Glalie, a Piloswine and a Raichu struggling to keep its balance on the ice. Wendy looked towards the large block of ice blocking the doorway at the opposite end of the room.  
"Dialga's in there. It must be in pain, but if we capture it, we can treat its wounds." Alexa stared at the icy floor ahead, looking slightly pale.  
"Oh, God…" Staraptor lifted himself off of the ground and flew slowly across the room, while Wendy slid along after him. Ryder casually walked on the ice, while Alexa reluctantly followed. She took a few shaky paces before her foot slipped.  
"WHOA!" Alexa fell backwards and crash-landed on her backside. "Aaagh…!" Wendy, Staraptor and Ryder went over to Alexa.  
"Alexa, are you all right?!" Wendy asked with concern.  
"I-I don't…aagh…" Alexa winced in agony, and her response was breathless; her impact with the ground left her winded, and she struggled to breathe. Ryder held out his paw and Alexa managed to help herself onto her feet; as soon as she lifted herself off of the ground, she was breathing more easily. "T-thanks, Ryder…"  
_Take it easy,_ Alex, Ryder advised.  
"Easy for you to say…you've got padded feet," Alexa said breathlessly. Ryder lifted his left foot off of the ground and looked at his sole from over his shoulder. He faced Alexa sheepishly.  
_Fair enough,_ he said timidly.  
"Are you okay to keep going?" Wendy asked.  
"I-I guess…" Alexa replied with uncertainty. Staraptor flew towards the ice structure in front of the doorway and roosted on top of it. Wendy and Ryder carefully made their way across the ice, but Alexa struggled to keep up.  
"W-w-w-whoa-whoa…!" Alexa's feet slipped occasionally, but she managed to maintain her balance. A Walrein eyed her behind her back, and Ryder's ears twitched. He turned around and spotted the Walrein eying Alexa, who struggled to move along the ice without falling again. Ryder growled as his arms shone in a red-white light.  
"WALREIN!" The Walrein began sliding towards Alexa. Ryder, a split-second before Walrein even moved, raced towards Walrein.

_WHACK-WHACK-WHACK-WHACK!_

Using his glowing fists, Ryder rapidly and continually punched Walrein. Alexa and Wendy watched in confusion.  
_I don't think so, bub!_ Ryder snarled furiously. Ryder delivered one final punch, which sent Walrein sliding across the room. Walrein crashed into the wall on the opposite end of the room and staggered around out of dizziness.  
"Ryder, we're here to help an injured legendary Pokémon, we're not here to hurt anything," Wendy said sternly. Ryder looked at Wendy with frustration.  
_If anything tries to hurt Alex, I'll hurt it,_ he growled. _So long as it's not a human._  
"Look, Ryder, will you just keep to yourself? And can you see if you can get rid of this ice block?" Wendy asked.  
_If you fancy freezing your feet off, I could keep trying Aura Sphere,_ Ryder sighed. _I think we'll need that Ninetales again._  
"But to get to it, we'll need to get to that smaller ice block blocking the right hand door," Alexa said whilst struggling to stand still on the ice.  
_Ah, now that I could eliminate in one fell swoop! No need to get that Houndoom like we did before because SOMEBODY doubted my strength,_ Ryder sighed as he glared at Wendy.  
"All right, all right, I should've remembered that you're trained for battle, I'm sorry," Wendy moaned as she carefully slid along the ice towards the smaller ice obstruction. Ryder and Staraptor followed on, but Alexa continued to struggle to keep up. Her feet kept slipping, but she didn't even move an inch.  
"Um, guys? A-a little help here?" she asked feebly. Ryder looked back at Alexa and walked over to her. He spotted a Swinub dashing towards her. He sighed as he fired a quick, yet unstable, Aura Sphere from his left paw at the Swinub.  
_Scram, you,_ Ryder said sternly as the Aura Sphere crashed into the Swinub's forehead. The Swinub shook the attack off, but scurried away out of fright. Alexa looked at Ryder as he gently took her hand in his paw.  
"That's not exactly what I had in mind, but thanks, Ryder," Alexa smiled. Ryder smiled back at her as he gently escorted her across the ice. Alexa moved her feet carefully to avoid falling like she did before.  
As he and Alexa caught up with Wendy and Staraptor, Ryder created and released a proper Aura Sphere at the icy obstacle. The Aura Sphere disintegrated upon impact with the ice, but the ice shattered completely as a result, clearing the doorway. Wendy, Staraptor, Ryder and Alexa walked through the now clear doorway.

_Inside…_

_I mean, come on, if we did it like we did last time, we'd be confronting those two Weavile again!_ Ryder complained. He, Staraptor and Wendy watched as Alexa used her capture styler on the single Ninetales in the room. Another Raichu was also in the room, and was also watching Ninetales resisting the capture styler whilst being careful not to accidentally crash into the nearby clothing rail.  
"How is she able to control her capture disc after the fall she just had?" Wendy questioned quietly.  
_You wonder about that yet to don't wonder about how she was able to pull through Operation Brighton?_ Ryder asked with suspicion.  
"Touché," Wendy replied. Alexa recalled her capture disc back into her styler and approached Wendy and Ryder, with Ninetales at her side.  
"All done," she smiled.

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

"Waaaaah!" Alexa shrieked with fright as she recoiled upon hearing Dialga's pain-induced roar. Wendy looked towards the doorway with concern.  
"If we don't get to Dialga soon, it'll be harder for us to help it," she said worriedly. She looked towards Alexa; she noticed how frightened Alexa looked. "Come on, Alex, we have to pull through this."  
"I-I don't know if I can! I-I can't skate and I-I'm terrified!" Alexa cried.  
"I don't understand. Dialga's a legendary Pokémon, sure, but it's in pain. If we capture it, we can treat its injury and get ourselves back to our own time," Wendy said reassuringly. "It'll be okay, you'll see."  
"I-I dunno…!" Alexa whimpered. "I-I'm scared…!"  
"It's okay, it shouldn't be too long now, Alexa. Let's get this over with, okay?"  
"O-okay…" Alexa reluctantly followed Wendy and Staraptor out of the room, with Ryder holding onto her hand. The Ninetales followed Alexa.

Ryder gently escorted Alexa, who looked completely terrified, across the ice. The Ninetales' paws slipped on the ice occasionally, but masterfully maintained its balance. Wendy was the first to approach the ice block, closely followed by Staraptor. The Ninetales stepped in front of the ice block and took a deep breath. Ninetales then exhales an enormous Flamethrower from its mouth, and the large burst of flames collided with the large obstruction. The ice melted away quickly as the Flamethrower continued to burn away at it, eventually rendering the mighty ice block to a mere puddle of water, which quickly froze on the already icy floor. Task complete, the Ninetales walked along the ice and away from the two Top Rangers. Alexa stared at the doorway, dreading what lay inside.  
"All right, it's clear. Let's go," Wendy said eagerly as she carefully walked across the fresh icy layer and into the large room ahead with Staraptor close behind her. Though petrified with fear, Alexa slowly made her way through the doorway, with Ryder loyally by her side.

_Inside…_

Wendy, Staraptor, Alexa and Ryder made their way into the room. Wendy looked up at the suffering Dialga with pity.  
"There it is. Dialga! We're here to help you!" she cried.

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

Alexa winced and shivered with fright upon hearing Dialga's ear-piercing cry. She held onto her head and failed to look up at the Temporal Pokémon.  
"If Dialga suffers too much, it'll be more liable to use the Roar of Time attack again," Wendy said with concern. "The capture has to be quick and painless. When you're ready, Alex, capture Dialga."  
"I can't!" Alexa cried. Wendy looked at Alexa, almost in horror. She became concerned when she spotted the tears slowly falling from Alexa's tightly closed eyes.  
"Alexa?"  
"I can't do it! I-I just can't!" Alexa wept.

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

"Aaaaagh!" Alexa cried out in terror upon hearing Dialga's roar. She held onto her head tighter and collapsed onto her knees as she came dangerously close to breaking into a sob.  
"W-why me…!? Why did I have to be the one to be here?! A-and so soon after P-Palkia…!" Alexa wept. Ryder looked up at Wendy with concern.  
_I guess you'll have to capture Dialga,_ he said worriedly. _Alex's too scared to even look at it; it'll affect her control of her capture disc._  
"All right, I'll catch it," Wendy nodded. She readied her styler and approached Dialga, with Staraptor alongside her.

Ryder knelt down next to Alexa and held onto her as he watched Wendy confronting Dialga. At first, Wendy's capture disc seemed to be doing fine, but Dialga released a burst of small spheres of aura around it. None of the spheres hit Wendy's capture disc, for she kept the capture disc away from the trajectories of the spheres, and she resumed spinning it around Dialga instantly after the barrage ceased. After almost a minute, Dialga shone in a white light and Wendy recalled her capture disc.

"Capture complete! Right, let's get that leg seen to, Dialga," Wendy smiled as she and Staraptor approached Dialga's wounded leg. Dialga watched as Wendy applied a bandage to its injury. "But, Dialga, you're a legendary Pokémon, aren't you? Whoever did this to you must be an incredibly tough Pokémon. There we go."

_RHEEEEEEHIYEEEEEEEEEH!_

With the bandage successfully applied to and protecting Dialga's wound, Dialga roared with gratitude. Alexa, however, was still petrified and winced when Dialga roared. Ryder continued to hold onto Alexa gently, but he watched Dialga as it made its way to the strange portal that was behind it. Before walking through it, Dialga looked back at Wendy and Alexa once more. Dialga faced the front and disappeared into the portal; the portal itself soon disappeared.  
_It's gone now, it's okay,_ Ryder said softly to Alexa.

_A little later…_

"You have terrible balance on ice, don't you, Alexa?" Wendy asked as she escorted Alexa out of the castle. Wendy had placed Alexa's arm around her shoulders, while Alexa's right leg was limp with a bruise on the knee. Staraptor and Ryder followed Wendy and Alexa out of the castle.  
"I told you I can't skate!" Alexa huffed. She sighed. "I'm going to be out of commission for a while, aren't I?"  
"Just a couple of days at the most, unless your knee's fractured," Wendy said nervously. She then looked around. "Anyway, I'm not sure which time period Dialga returned to. But did we return to our own time?"

_RING-RING-RING-RING!_

Wendy's styler picked up an incoming voicemail communication. Wendy lifted her arm up and picked up the communication.  
"Voicemail, it's Hastings! Wendy, you and Alexa disappeared off of our radar for about ten seconds, is everything all right? Incidentally, you still need to catch Dialga before it causes any damage," Hastings said over the voicemail.  
"Actually, Dialga's already been captured," Wendy explained.  
"What?! Wow, that must be some sort of record! You'll have to fill me in when you return to the Union!" Hastings exclaimed.  
"Oh, but Alexa…she got hurt afterwards," Wendy said worriedly.  
"Is that so? I'll make sure Vatona and Nage are on hand to check her over, but please be careful bringing her back here," Hastings cautioned before he ended the communication.  
"A record?" Alexa questioned.  
"Let's let him believe that," Wendy smiled. A snowflake gently fell and landed on Ryder's nose. Ryder looked at the snowflake and shook it off. He then looked up and found several more snowflakes falling from the sky.  
_It's snowing again,_ he said openly. Staraptor, Wendy and Alexa looked up at the snow falling gently towards them.  
"I thought it was getting chilly," Wendy smiled.

_Later, at the Union…_

Alexa lay on Keith's bed with her back against the pillows behind her. She had her boots off of her feet, and she had bandages over her right knee. Ryder lay on the other bed, asleep, with his head against the pillows. Keith entered the room and closed the door behind him. Buizel hopped off of Keith's shoulders and approached Ryder and slept next to him as Keith made his way to Alexa.  
"I heard what happened. Are you okay?" he asked with concern.  
"I guess so…Vatona and Nage said I'll be out of action for a few days," Alexa sighed. Keith shook his head.  
"You know what I mean. Are you okay now that the mission's over?" he asked as he sat on the bed next to Alexa.  
"I-I couldn't face it…!" Alexa confessed. "Wendy captured it, not me… Again, I felt so useless…! I could barely move because I was so scared…!"  
"And I don't blame you; the first time you saw it scarred you for life," Keith said worriedly as he gently stroked Alexa's hair. "Same goes for the other one too; they represent a traumatic incident in your life."  
"I-I just wish I could alter how it all started…!" Alexa whimpered. "I-If I had just kept going, then…then I'd…!" Keith gently pulled Alexa close to him and cuddled her. Alexa nestled comfortably in Keith's soft hold and relaxed as she felt him stroking her hair.  
"It's all right, don't worry about it," Keith said quietly. "Besides, it's all over now. I doubt that there's anything else out there that you should be afraid of."  
"B-but what if there is?" Alexa asked worriedly.  
"If that's the case, you've got me to look after you. And Ryder," Keith smiled. "Trust me, Kitten, I won't let anything or anyone hurt you."

_Meanwhile…_

Wendy and Sven were in the Operations room, talking with Professor Hastings and Erma.  
"Well, it's a relief now that these abnormalities have been taken care of," Hastings smiled. "Along with the added benefit of Kincaid finally under police custody. So, Wendy, what do you have to report about your mission?"  
"Professor, I'm really concerned about Alexa," Wendy said worriedly. "For a good majority of the mission, she was scared."  
"Scared? How so, dear?" Erma asked with concern.  
"I don't understand it myself, but it seemed to me like she was scared of Dialga," Wendy replied.  
"Scared of Dialga?" Hastings questioned.  
"Hey, now that you mention it, she was really scared when she and I encountered Palkia a few days ago," Sven added. Wendy faced Sven in astonishment.  
"She saw Palkia too?"  
"Uh huh. It's not like her to be petrified of a Pokémon, so this has me concerned," Sven said. "Come to think of it, I think Ryder looked pale when he saw Palkia too."  
"Is that so?" Hastings questioned. "Did Ryder also react when he beheld Dialga, Wendy?"  
"He looked rather astonished, but that's about it, I think," Wendy answered. "I paid more attention to Dialga than Ryder, to be honest, though Alexa's reaction was as clear as day; she was frightened."  
"Hmm…Sven, Wendy, how did Ryder take to Alexa being so scared?" Hastings asked, with worry about his tone.  
"He tried to calm her down as far as I could tell," Sven answered. "While I captured Palkia, Ryder stayed with Alexa."  
"That's the same for when I captured Dialga; Ryder stayed with Alexa to make her feel comfortable, even though she wasn't until Dialga actually went back to wherever it was it came from," Wendy added.  
"It sounds to me like Ryder knows why Alexa was so terrified of Palkia and Dialga," Erma said worriedly.  
"And I wish to get to the bottom of it," Hastings said firmly. Erma looked up at Hastings worriedly.  
"Oh, really now, must you? Besides, the odds of her ever seeing Palkia and Dialga a second time are highly unlikely."  
"Even so, I'm concerned and curious about why she reacted horribly to seeing them," Hastings explained. "She saw them once, yet she was terrified of both…this doesn't add up…"  
"Call me crazy, but what if she's seen them before?" Sven queried. Wendy looked at Sven in frustration.  
"That's unlikely!"  
"Perhaps, but he has a point," Hastings agreed. "It is a possibility that she might have seen them before…but…what's the connection?"

_To be continued…_


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30 – A Secret Kept By Three**

Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma were in the Operations Room. Linda and Rhythmi were too busy working to notice Professor Hastings pacing around. Erma sighed as she watched him.  
"Would you please stop pacing?"  
"I want to find out why Alexa's so terrified of Dialga and Palkia," Hastings said as he continued to pace.  
"I wish you didn't; that would be invasion of privacy, first off. Just let it be and dedicate your concerns to other matters."  
"But it's baffling that a Pokémon Ranger – a Top Ranger, no less – would cower before a Pokémon without reason," Hastings argued. "There must be a reason for this mystery."  
"Professor, it's over. Dialga and Palkia are gone, there's no need to explore the matter any further," said Erma. "I think you're better off leaving the poor dear alone, she's been through enough. And her accident didn't exactly help." Rhythmi turned around, in her Operator's chair, and looked towards Professor Hastings.  
"Professor, I don't think you should look too far into this," she said with concern. "What's the real point behind it?"  
"Rhythmi, don't get involved," Linda sighed. Rhythmi huffed towards Linda as she resumed her work.

Ryder ascended from the escalator below and looked towards it. Hastings and Erma spotted Ryder and smiled.  
"Oh, hello, Ryder, dear. How's Alexa?" Erma asked.  
_See for yourself,_ Ryder said simply. Erma and Hastings looked towards the escalator. They soon saw Keith ascending from the escalator, closely followed by Alexa. Keith held out his hand and helped Alexa off of the escalator. While Keith was dressed in his uniform, Alexa's attire was more casual; she wore her teal single-sleeve shirt, her black leggings, white Velcro trainers and her emerald collar necklace around her neck. She also held a deep dark brown cane in her left hand, and her right knee looked marginally thicker than her left, as she continued to wear the bandages over her right knee. Rhythmi and Linda smiled towards Alexa, as did Hastings and Erma.  
"Hi, Alexa! How're you feeling?" Rhythmi asked. Alexa smiled towards Rhythmi.  
"Better, thank you. My knee still hurts, though; that's why I've got this cane," she replied.  
"So you're still out of action then?" Linda questioned. "Your clothes give that away."  
"Then why ask?" Alexa laughed. "Hopefully I'll be 100% by tomorrow or the day after." Erma noticed the diamond shaped emerald around Alexa's neck.  
"That's a very pretty necklace, dear," she smiled. "I've not seen anything like it before." Alexa smiled as she glanced down at her pendant and lightly touched the jewel with her right hand.  
"Thanks; it belonged to my grandmother. It was given to me when I turned 16." She lowered her arm and looked towards Erma. "Although it was my mother who originally inherited it." Erma looked mildly sympathetic towards Alexa.  
"I'm sure your grandmother was a kind person," she said sensitively.  
"I didn't know her personally; she died before I was even born," Alexa said plainly. "My father's said to me that I'm a lot like her, though." Ryder looked towards Hastings with frustration.

_I'm getting tired of this! When can I get back to doing Ranger things again?!_ he complained. Hastings sighed.  
"You can work again when Alexa's able to work again," he said bluntly. "Have a little patience, Ryder, at least."  
_Says the man whose name derives from 'hasty',_ Ryder muttered quietly to himself.  
"Is anything happening at the moment?" Keith asked. Hastings looked towards Keith.  
"No, there's nothing urgent going on. For the moment, you can just patrol and not worry about any urgent missions," he replied.  
"Okay," Keith nodded. He looked towards Alexa. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked. Alexa smiled up at him.  
"I'll be fine, I can still walk," she answered. "Don't let me stop you from doing your job."  
"Alex, you're my responsibility, I just want to make sure you're going to be okay while I'm out on patrol," Keith said worriedly.  
"I'm fine," Alexa laughed. "If it'll set your mind at ease, I'll let you know if I need anything, okay?" Keith smiled warmly and nodded.  
"Okay." He then looked towards Ryder with a simple smile. "Will you take care of her?"  
_I usually do when you're elsewhere,_ Ryder smirked. _Don't let us keep you, though, mate._ Keith looked towards Alexa again.  
"Take care, Alex," he said softly. His eyes closed as he drew himself closer to Alexa, and he planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. Alexa blushed slightly as Keith smiled towards her once more. "See you later." He then walked past Alexa and went down the escalator again. Alexa watched him with a warm smile.

"Alexa, may I have a word with you?" Hastings asked. Alexa looked towards him in confusion.  
"What's wrong?" she asked as she approached him, using her cane to help her walk painlessly. Hastings, however, smiled.  
"Nothing's wrong. I've received a contact from Principal Lamont of the Ranger School," he explained.  
_Really? Haven't seen him since graduation,_ Ryder said in bewilderment.  
"Actually, it's been since Barlow drove Kincaid's cargo ship into the school's pier," Alexa sighed.  
_Oh yeah. I wonder if they've done anything about that yet?_ Ryder mused. Alexa sighed as she looked back at Hastings.  
"How is he?" she asked.  
"You and Ryder can see for yourselves; he's asked to see you," Hastings replied. Alexa and Ryder faced Hastings with astonishment.  
"How come he wants to see us?" Alexa asked.  
"I think it's better if you find out for yourself," Hastings answered, still with a smile on his face. Ryder shrugged.  
_Well, let's go see this head Honchkrow then,_ he suggested. Alexa nodded towards Ryder.  
"Oh, you will take care going up the school's steps, won't you, dear? I don't want you falling down them," Erma said with concern.  
"That makes two of us," Alexa agreed.  
_Four if you include myself and Keith,_ Ryder added.  
"Yes, all right, Ryder, I get the point, nobody wants me to fall down the steps," Alexa sighed as she made her way towards the escalator. Ryder ran on ahead and descended on the escalator before Alexa.

"Professor, do you think she'll be all right getting to the school on her own?" Erma asked with concern. "It's quite a distance from here, and she's off duty, so she won't be using her styler."  
"I believe she'll be all right," Hastings smiled. "Knowing that Ryder's with her is enough reassurance."

Alexa and Ryder exit the Ranger Union and walk past Wendy and Staraptor. Wendy and Staraptor approach Alexa.  
"Alexa!" Wendy called. Alexa and Ryder looked towards Wendy and Staraptor. "How're you feeling?"  
"Better, thanks. Knee still hurts, though," Alexa replied.  
"Where're you going?" asked Wendy curiously.  
"Ranger School. We've been summoned, apparently, by Principal Lamont," Alexa answered.  
"That's a bit of a walk for your knee. Maybe Staraptor and I can give you guys a lift," Wendy suggested.  
"There's no need, really," Alexa said quickly.  
"Oh come on, Alexa, you can't seriously get to the Ranger School with that knee of yours."  
"If Professor Hastings can make it to Vientown from here at his age, I don't see why I can't with this knee," Alexa argued.  
_And he got to Vientown pretty quickly, if I remember correctly; he arrived in town before we could even leave town to meet up with him,_ Ryder added.  
"At least let me capture a Doduo for you to ride on," Wendy said with concern.  
"I personally prefer to ride on Ellie-May-Jan's back than a Doduo's back, but I don't want to trouble my Dodrio over a trivial matter," Alexa said, sounding rather annoyed.  
_Let the Happiny have her Oval Stone, Alex,_ Ryder sighed. Alexa also sighed and looked towards Wendy with reluctance about her.  
"Okay, you can give us a lift if you want to give us one. I don't know why you're so keen on giving us a lift anyway," Alexa shrugged.  
"I'm just trying to help out. Okay, this shouldn't take too long." Staraptor moved over to Wendy and braced himself for Alexa to mount onto his back. Wendy helped Alexa onto Staraptor's back, and she sat down carefully; her legs were both on the same side of Staraptor. Wendy mounted onto his back next, sitting behind Alexa. Staraptor took flight and picked up Ryder with his talons before he flew away from the Union.

_A little later…_

Staraptor flew down towards the large metal gates of the Ranger School. He first dropped Ryder before he landed on the ground. Ryder then helped Alexa off of Staraptor's back. Staraptor then took flight once more. Wendy and Alexa waved to one another as Staraptor rose into the air and flew out of sight.  
"I guess that did save us some time," Alexa said quietly.  
_And strain too; it spared your knee to be sure,_ Ryder added as he opened the gates. He and Alexa walked through the gates, and he closed them behind him. He ran over to Alexa, who steadily made her way to the large steps ahead, and he helped her walk up the steps.

_A short walk later…_

Principal Lamont stood at the far end of the school staff room. There was a large flag nearby that hung on the wall, with the symbol of the Ranger School printed on it, and there was also a series of tables neatly placed together in the middle of the room. These tables had several personal computers on the top of them, and the wires were tidily lying on the floor underneath the tables; there was no risk of tripping up on the wires. Lamont looked over at the staff room door when he heard someone knocking from outside.  
"Come in!" he called. Ryder opened the door as he and Alexa entered the room. Alexa waited until Ryder had closed the door behind him before she made her way towards Lamont, who smiled at her as she and Ryder approached him.  
_It's been a while, Principal,_ Ryder smiled.  
"Indeed it has," Lamont laughed. "It's good to see you both." He soon noticed Alexa's cane. "Alexa, why do you have a cane?"  
"This," Alexa used her cane to point at her slightly bulky right knee. "I had a little accident while I was on a mission recently, and my knee still hurts. I'm actually out of commission for a few days."  
"It wasn't a fracture, was it?" Lamont asked.  
"No, but it was dislocated for a while; I had the accident while we were fairly high up in Almia Castle," Alexa explained shyly. "I can't skate for the life of me, and I kept slipping…"  
"I hope you'll recover well," Lamont smiled. "Anyway, I assume you're wondering why I wanted to see you."  
_Yeah, it seemed kind of…out of the blue, you know?_ Ryder commented, raising an eyebrow.  
"Is everything all right?" Alexa asked with concern.  
"Everything's fine," Lamont answered as he approached Alexa. "There's just something that I would like to share with you."  
"Huh?"  
"Here." Lamont gently took Alexa's right hand and placed a small grey key in her palm. He then closed Alexa's hand and kept a hold of it as he looked at her with a gentle smile. "Take this."  
"A key?" Alexa asked.  
"I'll give you a hint; the Pledge Stone in the Ascension Square. You'll find your answers there."  
_And the cargo ship that crashed there?_ Ryder queried.  
"Yes, we ought to think about moving that," Lamont laughed nervously. "Anyway, that's all I'm going to say; the rest is for you to figure out."

_Outside…_

Alexa and Ryder, carefully walking down another set of steps, arrived at the Ascension Square; the old Dim Sun cargo ship was still wrecked at where the pier once was. Alexa began to blush as she looked around at the square. Ryder, however, looked in confusion.  
_So what the heck is that key supposed to open?_ he asked openly. Alexa managed to get over her infatuation and looked towards the Pledge Stone.  
"Lamont said the Pledge Stone was the clue. Do you think it's hiding something?" she asked.  
_Maybe. I'll find out._ Ryder's aura sensors lifted as he shut his eyes lightly. He was silent and motionless for a few seconds when he opened his eyes._That's odd; there's a room of sorts underneath the Pledge Stone._  
"Really?"  
_Yeah. I think the entrance is underneath the monument itself. I'll move it._ Ryder ran towards the monument and began to push it. It took most of his strength, but the monument finally began to move backwards. _Got it!_  
"Ryder, be careful, don't do your back in," Alexa cautioned.  
_Noted,_ Ryder nodded as he continued to push. A hole started to appear as the monument was pushed away. _WHOA! OOMPH! OW!_ Ryder's foot fell into the hole, causing him to fall into it, crashing into the statue on the way down. Worried, Alexa approached him.  
"Ryder?! Are you all right?!" she asked anxiously. Ryder climbed out of the hole and rubbed his head.  
_Ow…I didn't see that one coming…_ he moaned. He looked down at the hole with disgust. _What, not even a trap door or something?!_  
"Push the monument with Psychic; I don't want you hurting yourself again," Alexa suggested.  
_Good call._ Ryder held out both of his paws as they, and his eyes, shone in a bright cyan light. The monument then shone in the same light as it began to move backwards. The light faded away as Ryder lowered his arms, and the hole was completely exposed. Ryder and Alexa looked at the hole.  
"Okay..? Should we go down them?" Alexa questioned.  
_Let's just hope we haven't unleashed an apocalypse,_ Ryder said quietly as he assisted Alexa in walking down the once-secret staircase.

_Inside…_

Alexa and Ryder ventured into the secret room and looked around. Everything inside the room looked old, and dust was settled on the various cardboard boxes around the room and on the bookshelves nearby. Alexa spotted an old table with a dust-covered book resting in the centre of it. As she approached the book, Ryder had his eyes on an old photograph framed on the wall between two of the bookshelves.  
"What is this place?" Alexa asked openly.  
_Dunno, but here're three familiar faces for you,_ Ryder said as he pointed at the portrait. Alexa approached the photograph and noticed the three young people it depicted; a boy wearing glasses, an impatient-looking boy in a lab coat, and a girl with pig-tails.  
"Lamont, Hastings and Erma?"  
_Well…when they were younger anyway,_ Ryder said. _What does it mean?_  
"Maybe that book has some answers," Alexa assumed as she returned to the old book on the table. She carefully placed her cane and the small key down on the table and picked the book up with both hands. She took a moderately deep breath and blew most of the settled dust away. She spotted a small keyhole while she wiped the remaining dust away from the cover.  
_Alex?_  
"This has a keyhole. I guess the key Lamont gave me opens this book."  
_Worth a try._  
Alexa took the key from the table and placed it inside the keyhole. She carefully twisted, and the lock on the book opened. She took the key out of the keyhole and placed it back on the table before she opened it.

"Hey, this is a diary!" Alexa stated. "Huh…that's strange…" Ryder approached Alexa.  
_What is it?_  
"It looks like this was shared between different people," Alexa replied. "Listen to this; 'X Month, XX Day. I am twitching with excitement. I'm very close to figuring out how we could communicate our feelings to Pokémon! I'm in the verge of a breakthrough! Hasting'."  
_Hasting?_  
"There's more. 'That is wonderful to hear, Hastings. But you should slow down. You don't want to be too hasty. Why, you've even misspelled your own name! Erma'."  
_Erma and Hastings had this book?_ Ryder questioned. Alexa smiled and gave off a small laugh.  
"Oh, you'll like this one, Ryder! 'So I did! I did misspell my own name! Hasting…Sounds like an odd fellow! Who could this mysterious Hasting be? Perhaps Erma's boyfriend?! Hastings'." Ryder laughed upon hearing the entry.  
_Who knew Professor Hastings had such a classic sense of humour?!_ He sighed to calm himself down. _Hilarious._  
"Ah, here's person number 3. 'You two get along famously. I'm thinking of education systems that can teach kids properly about Pokémon. My dream is to build a school for that one day. Yes, a school about Pokémon. Lamont'."  
_Lamont?_ Ryder looked back at the photograph on the wall. _I'm starting to figure this whole thing out._  
"Really?"  
_Yeah. But keep reading, I wanna know how many other hilarious entries there are in that thing,_ Ryder smirked. Alexa sighed.  
"Oh, you…!" Alexa leaned against the table as she continued reading the book. "Anyway… 'That's a wonderful dream to have. I hope you will make that dream come true. It's a dream worth keeping. Erma'."  
_A bit short, isn't it?_  
"I guess you could say this is how they communicated for a while. 'I'm counting on your support too. I've finally worked out the concept of capturing Pokémon! The next step is-'"  
_Concept of capturing Pokémon? It's called the Poké Ball!_ Ryder said sarcastically.  
"Ryder, please. 'The next step is to develop the actual tool for performing captures. This could be a challenge, however. Hastings'."  
_Like I said, it's called the Poké Ball,_ Ryder sighed.  
"He's not talking about the Poké Balls, okay? 'Capture? I have no idea what that is, but I would like to hear about it when you have the time. I may be able to offer you help. Lamont'."  
_What does Erma say?_  
"This. 'I'm glad to hear of your dreams. I have a dream too. It also has to do with Pokémon. I want to actively protect Pokémon and the natural environment. To do so, I suppose I should form an official organization…I wouldn't know where to begin. Erma'."  
_Organization, huh? Why does that sound familiar…?_

"Hey, listen to this! 'I have an idea, and it's brilliant! I will develop a device for capturing Pokémon. Lamont will make a school that teaches about capturing Pokémon. And Erma can make an organization for protecting Pokémon and people using captures in a peaceful manner. The organization would be a gathering of the like-minded. A union, if you will. Maybe our dreams could actually be one seen three different ways. Maybe our dreams are the same. Hastings'."  
_Now THAT sounds extremely familiar! So those three came up with the idea of Pokémon Rangers together?_ Ryder questioned.  
"This next entry answers that one. 'Pokémon Ranger! How do you like the sound of it? It's a name I just thought up! It's the name for someone that uses the capture technique for peace. A Ranger uses capture for protecting Pokémon, nature and people. If the name works for you two, it would set the name for my organization-to-be. It would be the Ranger Union. Erma'."  
_Holy…Alex, that book of yours is a piece of groundbreaking history!_ Ryder exclaimed. _And I don't mean the Fissure kind of groundbreaking either._  
"I know you were being metaphorical, Ryder. There's more to this. 'Pokémon Ranger sounds good! If that name works for Hastings, it would also set the name for my school-to-be. It would be the Ranger School, naturally. Lamont'."  
_As I said…groundbreaking…_  
"Yeah… 'I concur with Pokémon Ranger! The Ranger Union and Ranger School sound excellent as well. Also, I spent all last night drawing up the blueprints for my capturing device! I shall name it…' The Capture Loopy-Looper?!" Ryder instantly broke out in hysterical laughter.  
_The Capture Loopy-Looper?! What the hell is that?! Oh my Arceus, that's hilarious!_  
"And he signed off as…Hatagnits?!" Alexa looked at the entry in bewilderment as Ryder continued to laugh hysterically. He ended up on the floor, on his back, holding onto his stomach because he was laughing so hard. Tears also formed in his eyes from his laughing. Alexa watched Ryder in confusion as he laughed.  
_Hatagnits…!? He wasn't kidding when he said he spent all of that night…!_ Ryder was laughing so hard he was steadily getting more and more breathless. _He didn't listen to Erma at all…!_  
"Are you going to be okay, Ryder?" Alexa asked, looking slightly concerned. Ryder slowly stood up onto his feet and faced Alexa, trying not to laugh again.  
_I-I think so… he replied. Any more entries?_ Alexa looked at the diary again.  
"Just one. 'The Capture Loopy-Looper…? One hopes there would be a better name than that. You also signed off as Hatagnits'." Alexa noticed Ryder struggling to contain his laughter again. "Cool it, Ryder." She turned her attention back to the diary. "As I was saying… 'You should get some sleep. Also, exchanging a journal like this is too slow! We need to get together and really talk, the three of us. We should meet at that spot. On that small island east of Vientown. In the secret underground room that Hastings dug. That's where we'll meet! Erma'." Alexa closed the book and looked around the room. "So Professor Hastings dug this place…" Ryder looked around.  
_Quite impressive, really…_

Ryder watched Alexa putting the book back onto the table and picking up her cane again.  
"Well done on finding this place," Lamont complimented. Alexa and Ryder looked towards the stairs and found Lamont, Erma and Professor Hastings entering the room. "Not that I was expecting anything less from you."  
"This was the place where Lamont, Hastings and I met to continue discussing our dreams and started making them a reality," Erma explained. "I must say, it's been a long time since we were in here."  
"Indeed. And it's been a long time since that diary was open. I can honestly say, it's…somewhat embarrassing…I mean, 'The Capture Loopy-Looper'? What was I thinking?!" Hastings asked rhetorically, with a slight look of embarrassment about him. Ryder instantly held himself back from laughing.  
_Don't forget…Hatagnits…!_  
"Yes, that too," Hastings sighed.  
"After the Ranger School was created, the Pledge Stone was built on top of this secret room," Lamont explained. "As a reminder that dreams can come true."  
"Hence what everybody says about it… But I don't understand. Why would you show me all of this?" Alexa asked in confusion.  
"Do you remember the pledges you, Keith and Rhythmi made while the three of you were still in school?" Lamont asked.  
"Yeah, I also decided that we combined them into…one…"  
"I see you've figured it out. It reminded me of the dreams Erma, Hastings and I had," Lamont smiled. "One dream, seen in three ways." Alexa smiled.  
"To be honest with you, I think Keith and I started to grow closer as friends after we made those pledges," she said shyly.  
_You two aren't just friends anymore,_ Ryder smirked as he looked up at Alexa. Lamont looked at Ryder in confusion.  
"Meaning…?" Ryder looked up at Lamont.  
_Oh, yeah, you don't know. Keith confessed to her in front of the Pledge Stone a little while ago!_ Ryder squinted up at Alexa. _Well…after he-_  
"Nobody needs to know that!" Alexa exclaimed abruptly, blushing from embarrassment. "Nobody needs to know he kissed me before he confessed!"  
_Thanks for saying it for me,_ Ryder chuckled.  
"What? Oh, dammit!" Alexa buried her face in her right hand, feeling humiliated. Lamont laughed.  
"Don't stress yourself about it, Alexa."  
"So that's how it happened. I should've known there was a reason he went out so late," Hastings smiled.  
"That's very sweet, dear," Erma said sweetly. "I'm sure the two of you will be very happy together."  
_They already are,_ Ryder smiled. Alexa glared at Ryder.  
"Ryder…!"  
"Anyway, I must be leaving; I have a school to run," Lamont said. "I'm happy for you and Keith, Alexa. If you're in the area while on patrol, feel free to stop by."  
"Thanks," Alexa smiled. Lamont smiled at her as he made his way out of the room. Hastings and Erma looked at Alexa.  
"We ought to be returning to the Ranger Union too, dear," Erma said. "What are you going to do?"  
"Um…go back as well, I suppose," Alexa shrugged. "I didn't have any real plans for today anyway. Maybe we can go back together."  
"Sounds like a plan," Hastings smiled. He and Erma, one at a time, exited the room. Ryder and Alexa took one last look around the room before they followed Hastings and Erma out of the room.

_Later…_

In her bedroom, Alexa lay on Keith's bed, with her back against the pillows, looking at her injured knee. Ryder sat on the white bed, continuously tossing a small yellow ball in the air and catching it.  
"Ryder, you can use Psychic to do that," Alexa said as she looked over at Ryder.  
_Nah. I used Psychic to push a statue, I've had enough of using it for today,_ Ryder said as he watched his ball being tossed into the air.  
"Good point," Alexa laughed. Keith suddenly burst into the room, looking extremely livid, and slammed the door behind him. Buizel hopped onto the white bed and sat next to Ryder, who, along with Alexa, looked at Keith in confusion.  
"Keith? What's the matter?" Alexa asked worriedly.  
"Bloody waste of time!" he fumed. He sighed as he sat down on his bed, near Alexa. He held onto his head with both hands. "Sorry, Kitten…I'm just…I just had a bad day, that's all."  
"What happened?" Alexa asked as she moved herself closer to Keith. She then cuddled him from behind him and held him softly. She gently placed her head on Keith's left shoulder.  
"I was in the Haruba Desert, right? And I get some guy who was panicky because he heard strange noises coming from inside the temple, claiming them to sound like Gigaremo units," Keith explained. "Buizel and I made our way into the temple, and we found the cause of those noises."  
_Which were…?_  
"Claydol! There were only two Claydol, but I captured them with Buizel's help, and the guy came and said 'Oh, they were only Claydol. You have to admit, though, they do look like Gigaremo units'. They look nothing like Gigaremo units…!" Keith started to feel more relaxed as Alexa continued to cuddle him softly.  
_They don't?_  
"Gigaremo units don't have arms," Alexa said. "Don't let it get to you, Keith, the important thing is the problem was solved."  
"Yeah, you're right…and it doesn't get to me anymore. Thanks, Kitten," Keith smiled as he used his right hand to stroke Alexa's hair.

_To be continued…_


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31 – Roserade Red, Roserade Blue**

_Hey, Alex? What's a Mudkip doing in Almia anyway?_ Ryder asked as he looked up at Alexa. The both of them sat in front of the lake still.

"Who knows? Maybe it likes the mud around here," Alexa joked. "But wild Pokémon can live wherever they like, Ryder, so I don't think it's worth worrying over."

_That's true. I was just curious because I thought Mudkips were rare,_ Ryder mused.

"They are, but they're commonly seen with trainers from the Hoenn region," Alexa explained.

_Oh right. Alex? Why didn't you pick another starter Pokémon every time you went to another region?_ Ryder questioned.

"Two reasons. One, I had Phoenix with me every time I went to another region. Two, that starter Pokémon wouldn't technically be a starter Pokémon," Alexa laughed.

_Good point,_ Ryder chuckled.

BOOM…

_Huh?_ Ryder and Alexa looked up at the cloudy sky above them. They saw a brief flash of light from within the thick grey clouds.

"Storm's coming," Alexa stated quietly. "Come on then; we'd better get back to the Union before it gets really bad."

_I hope the Ranger Union has a lightning rod on it,_ Ryder said as he stood himself up from the ground. Alexa did the same.

"Ryder, do you even know what a lightning rod is besides it being a Pokémon ability?" Alexa questioned.

_Uh…no,_ Ryder said nervously. _What is it?_

"A lightning rod is a small rod that's built onto a building to protect it from being struck by lightning," she explained.

_How does that work?_ Ryder asked.

"In a similar way the Pokémon ability version of it works; the lightning rod attracts lightning, thus it protects the building from being struck by lightning," Alexa smiled. "Now let's go before we're the lightning rods," she laughed as she ran away from the lake. Ryder chased after her.

_Hey, wait for me!_ He yelled.

Later…KER-RASH!

"Gosh…this storm's pretty bad," Alexa said quietly as she sat on the bed with the blue bedding. As a change of pace, Alexa was dressed in her seemingly baddy red pyjamas. Keith, dressed in his usual black and white nightwear, entered the room from the en suite, with a relatively small yellow towel covering his head.

"And the rain's about as bad; listen." He and Alexa stayed quiet to listen to the light, yet rapid, drumming sound of the heavy rain outside.

"Crikey…I hate to think of the damage this storm will cause overnight," Alexa said worriedly.

"I think it'd be a good idea to patrol around tomorrow and check the damage. I'm sure the Area Rangers will be doing that anyway," Keith said.

_Yup, I know Barlow and co will be out with that,_ Ryder nodded. _Huh…now that Kincaid's rotting away in prison, there's nothing for the Top Rangers to do._

"I'm okay with that," Keith shrugged.

"Same here…the last thing I need is another mission as heavy as Operation Brighton…" Alexa sighed. Keith pulled the towel from his head and held onto it as he sat next to Alexa. He soon placed the towel on his lap and stroked Alexa's hair.

"It's over, Alex; that's the main thing," he smiled. Alexa turned her head to face Keith; her look of slight uncertainty soon changed into a warm smile.

"Yeah. And we're all okay," she added. Keith nodded.

"See? Things are looking up. If anything does happen, it won't be as serious as Operation Brighton or-" Keith abruptly stopped his sentence as he looked away from Alexa; he knew what he was about to say could have intimidated her.

"Or Cyrus…" Alexa sighed as she lost her smile as she looked away from him. Keith soon lost his smile as well.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be. It's my own fault I got involved in the first place," Alexa said quietly.

_Aw, go back to being adorable!_ Ryder complained playfully. _Don't worry about Mr Cheekbones and just be yourself again, girl._ Keith soon smiled as he faced Alexa once more.

"He's right, Alex, don't beat yourself up about it; what's done is done, so try to move on," he added. "But if you need to talk…I'll listen. Okay?" Alexa looked back at Keith again and gave him a gentle smile.

"Okay," she nodded. She laughed quietly to herself as she looked up at the ceiling. "I think I'm going soft…I need to change that." Keith laughed.

"I don't mind. Just as long as you won't change too much."

"Hey, I just need to make myself tougher again, I'm not having a personality transplant," Alexa laughed. "No, I just need to stop thinking about it, that's all."

"I think going on patrols and stuff will help out," Keith said optimistically.

"Oh, please, I don't need to be a Ranger to help me forget my screw-ups," Alexa said playfully.

_Just so long as there's no more missions like Operation Brighton,_ Ryder added.

"I already said that, Ryder. Is that because we were both hanging by threads, metaphorically speaking?" Alexa questioned.

_No, I just don't want to go through any more Wheelers. I mean, who with the right mind would send out a Bidoof at the endgame?_

"Yeah, well, you can dream about booting Wheeler's backside tonight, Ryder," Keith sniggered quietly. "Wait, which one was Wheeler again?"

"The one that made those stupid food puns when he threatened me," Alexa sighed. "As if the Bidoof thing wasn't enough…" Alexa stood up from the bed and made her way to the other side of the bed.

"Alex, anyone who makes puns during a conflict clearly lacks maturity," Keith said as he folded the duvet back.

"And IQ," Alexa added as she scrambled into bed. Keith laughed quietly.

The next morning…

Linda ran up to Rhythmi after descending from the escalator leading to the Union roof.

"Is everything sorted?" Rhythmi asked.

"I don't know, we'll need more time," Linda said hastily.

"Aw, I really want to make this special!" Rhythmi complained.

"So do I!" Linda pouted. "How're we supposed to buy more time?"

"It doesn't hurt to ask!" Alexa sighed. Rhythmi and Linda watched as Ryder and Alexa ascended from the escalator ahead of them. "I'm just trying to be considerate."

_I didn't think you needed to ask to do your job,_ Ryder shrugged.

"I don't, but it doesn't hurt to anyway," Alexa said. She looked towards Rhythmi and Linda. "Hey, is Professor Hastings up there?"

"No!" the Operators exclaimed abruptly, at the same time.

"Okay, okay, no need to yell! What happened, misplace your make-up?" Alexa asked, with suspicion about her.

"N-no, it-it's just…uh…" Rhythmi trailed off.

"Th-the roses…" Linda muttered.

"Oh! Yes! We were debating about the bouquets on Roserade's arms! Which hand has the red bouquet?" Rhythmi asked. Alexa raised an eyebrow out of suspicion.

"The right hand," Alexa answered. Linda and Rhythmi were left stunned.

"R-really? Are you sure it's not blue?" Linda asked.

"No, that's on Roserade's left hand," Alexa sighed.

_And it's unwise to question her on that, there IS a Roserade among her collective group of Pokémon,_ Ryder added.

"And if I don't know a simple thing like that about my Roserade, why am I a Pokémon Trainer?" Alexa asked rhetorically.

"But you're not anymore, are you?" Rhythmi asked.

"No, I'm just not battling competitively anymore; nobody ever stops being a Pokémon Trainer once they've obtained their very first Pokémon," Alexa explained.

"Hey, I've never actually seen a Roserade up close before, think you can catch one to show us?" Linda asked abruptly. Alexa looked flabbergasted.

"Say what?"

_Why catch one when we can just call upon Bouquet? She's Alex's Roserade, by the way, and it'd save both of us a lot of time and energy,_ Ryder argued logically.

"Look, will you just do it?! Please!" Rhythmi snapped. Alexa scoffed.

"Murph makes a lot more sense than you two combined! Come on, Ryder." Alexa turned away and left the two Operators blocking the escalator. Ryder followed her.

Outside…

The weather was perfectly calm with clear blue skies. The earth below, however, wasn't as pleasant; the grass was stained with cold damp mud, and the pathways were stained with muddy footprints of various Pokémon. There were puddles everywhere, and the riverbanks were on the verge of breaking because of the heavy rainfall overnight. Alexa and Ryder looked around as they walked into the forest.

_At least there isn't any real damage from lightning,_ Ryder smiled.

"That might be in other parts of the forest, or even anywhere else the thunderstorm was," Alexa said seriously. "Where would a Roserade be in Vien Forest?"

_You still want to get one? Why not just call Harvey and ask him to send Bouquet over and claim that it's one caught in Vien Forest? _Ryder asked.

"I understand that doing that would be the easier option, but it's too trivial a concern to bug him with," Alexa sighed. "Besides, we might as well take this to our advantage and check out the forest for any damage."

_Any MORE damage, you mean?_ Ryder asked. _This place has already been through a forest fire._

"I know, I know," Alexa sighed. "Well, Roserade isn't in the main part of the forest, so I guess we should check by the riv-AAAGH!"

SQUELCH!

"Aagh!" Alexa slipped on the slippery grass and fell on her back. Ryder helped Alexa onto her feet.

_You okay?_ Ryder asked.

"Yeah, it's only mud. It'll wash out," Alexa said, sounding completely embarrassed. She was even blushing with humiliation.

_The sooner we find that Roserade, the sooner you can have a bath,_ Ryder smiled reassuringly.

"Bath? A shower would be a lot more hygienic if I'm covered with mud."

_Your clothes are going to take most of it,_ Ryder laughed as he and Alexa approached the river.

"Well there is that, yeah," Alexa said sheepishly.

_Besides, I've noticed Rhythmi and Linda gave you a lot of grief, and a bath will relax you—WHOA!_

SPLASH!

Ryder slipped on the mud near the riverbank and fell straight into the river. Ryder surfaced and spat out the water that somehow ended up inside his mouth.

"Are you all right, Ryder?"

_It's only water, it'll dry off…but I am gonna stink,_ Ryder complained. Alexa carefully made her way to the edge of the river and extended her arm.

"Come on, I'll help you out," she offered.

_Alex, can I swim?_ Ryder asked.

"You never tried to, but you don't seem to be drowning," Alexa replied.

_A little trick I picked up; stepping water, isn't it?_

"Treading water," Alexa corrected. "Come on, let me help you o-AAAGH!"

SPLASH!

Alexa also slipped on the mud and ended up in the river. Alexa gasped for air and coughed as soon as she surfaced.

_I never realised how muddy this forest can be,_ Ryder complained quietly. He and Alexa made their way to the opposite riverbank and started to climb out of the river.

"Did you notice how Rhythmi sounded pushy earlier on?" Alexa questioned. "I think she's hiding something."

_What, a sudden and unexplained dislike for you now?_ Ryder asked rhetorically. Alexa paused for a few seconds to consider a response to Ryder's question; she felt almost certain that he had a point.

"Maybe…but this stupid Roserade hunt had better be worth it," she muttered.

_Why Rhythmi couldn't take your word for it is beyond me,_ Ryder said as he slowly shook his head. He and Alexa eventually scrambled out of the river; the both of them were wet, muddy, and mildly frustrated. _You're pretty much the Union's Pokémon Expert._

"I don't know if I'd put it like that, but I would imagine there're things that I'd know more about compared to the others," Alexa sighed as she stood up onto her feet carefully.

_Well, the sooner we find this Roserade, the sooner we can tell Rhythmi off for wasting our time,_ Ryder huffed.

"I agree," Alexa nodded. She and Ryder then carefully made their way further into the forest.

"Rose!" a Roserade, being cheeky, by nature, suddenly revealed herself from the bushes near Alexa and startled her. Alexa yelped and stepped back in fright, but she lost her footing quickly and slipped on the mud beneath her. She crashed and fell on her left hand side. Even her face hit the mud. Ryder snarled at the highly amused Roserade angrily.

_Why you little…!_ Ryder attempted to lunge at the Roserade, but his foot slipped in the mud and he fell flat on his face in a very muddy puddle. Roserade couldn't contain her laughter any longer, and burst out laughing. Ryder lifted his now very muddy face from the puddle and glared at the juvenile Roserade. _Okay, that's it…_

Ryder roared as he sprang up from the ground. The Roserade quickly fled in terror, thinking Ryder would catch up to her…but…

SQUELCH!

Ryder fell flat on his face once again. Alexa lifted herself up from the ground and wiped some mud away from her cheek. Ryder carefully stood up and faced Alexa, looking humiliated.

_Are you okay?_ Ryder asked. Alexa sighed as she flicked the mud away from her cheek. She looked worn out already.

"Y'know, it would've been easier to call upon Bouquet…" she said quietly. "Why's Rhythmi doing this to us?"

_I don't know, but I don't care right now. There's a Roserade I want to get even with,_ Ryder growled.

"Which way did she go anyway?" Alexa asked.

_I think towards the cave further downstream,_ Ryder replied. _Let's take our time getting there, though; both for our safety and to get on Rhythmi's nerves for the heck of it._

"Y-yeah, okay…" Alexa shivered slightly as she and Ryder walked on.

It took them a little while, but Alexa and Ryder finally managed to corner the juvenile Roserade inside a large cave. Alexa looked cold, as she was shivering slightly as she breathed, and her skin looked slightly paler than usual. Ryder was also shivering subtly.

_All right, cornered! Listen, little lady, it's not nice to scare folks, y'hear? You need to learn a lesson._

"Capture on!" Alexa said suddenly as she released her capture disc from her styler; although it suffered almost exactly what Alexa had suffered, the styler's functions still functioned at 100% capacity. The Roserade was caught off guard by the capture disc, but she attempted to attack it with multi-coloured glowing leaves that she unleashed from her right bouquet-arm. Alexa tried to prevent her capture disc from getting damaged, but, during the capture process, her capture disc sustained some damage. Eventually, however, the capture was complete as soon as Roserade shone white.

"Rose?" Roserade looked around in confusion. Alexa and Ryder sighed with relief as Alexa recalled her slightly damaged capture disc.

"Right, let's get out of here now…"

_Hey, Alex, look!_ Ryder spotted a strange looking statue inside the cave; it was of a rocky pillar with some strange Braille at the base of the statue. Alexa examined the statue, namely the Braille.

"…Regirock…"

_You know what this is? _Ryder asked.

"It must represent Regirock; that's its Braille symbol," she explained as she pointed to the strange 'M' mark at the statue's base.

_Does it mean anything?_

"I don't know. I'd have to look into it some more, but…right now, I just want to get out of here and have a bath," Alexa sighed as she stood up. "Let's go." She, Ryder and Roserade left the cave.

Later…

"There! All done at last!" Linda said happily. "I hope everyone will like it."

"I think they will," Rhythmi agreed. "It was hard keeping Alex away, though; she's not easily tricked. If at all…I'm not sure about that…"

"I'm concerned, Rhythmi; you sounded harsh to her," Linda said worriedly.

"I'm not worried. But what's taking her so long with the Roserade anyway?" Rhythmi pondered.

"Several things," Alexa answered abruptly. Rhythmi and Linda looked towards the wet, muddy, worn out and frustrated girl and her equally soggy and dirty Lucario. The Roserade looked squeaky clean compared to Alexa and Ryder; Alexa's hair was stained with mud and stray strands of grass, on top of it having been tangled throughout her slips and falls into the mud. Ryder's fur was just as untidy as Alexa's hair. Rhythmi struggled to contain her laughter.

"What happened to you two?! Are you all right?!" Linda asked.

_Nothing a bath won't cure,_ Ryder sighed.

"We brought Roserade, NOW do you believe me?" Alexa questioned snidely, noticing Rhythmi's lack of concern; it was because of her and Linda that she and Ryder became so dirty in the first place.

"Sorry…! Yeah, you were right all along," Rhythmi said innocently. "Okay, you can go to the roof now!"

"What?! B-but I didn't want to go up there in the first place!" Alexa exclaimed.

"But you were looking for the professor, weren't you?" Linda questioned.

"Yes, but I didn't necessarily want to go up there myself! What's up there anyway?" Alexa asked.

"See for yourself!" Rhythmi smiled. She and Linda moved aside to allow Alexa and Ryder to go up the escalator. Alexa released the Roserade before she and Ryder did so.

When the two got to the rooftop, they couldn't believe what they saw. They saw a neatly placed picnic laid out near the Tree of Harmony. There was several cushions lined up around the picnic cloth, which had the picnic basket in the centre. Several little plates were placed in front of the cushions, along with plastic cutlery and plastic drinking glasses. Around the picnic basket was various food items and different bottles containing different beverages. Neither Alexa nor Ryder could believe their eyes, but not in a good way. They were horrified; all of their efforts had been wasted just so they wouldn't see a typical, albeit nicely placed, picnic? Alexa's eye twitched occasionally. Rhythmi and Linda approached Alexa and Ryder, both with cheerful smiles on their faces.

"Ta-da! What do you think?" Linda asked. Not long after, Professor Hastings, Erma, Sven, Wendy and Keith, one after the other, came onto the roof and admired the nice set-up.

"Oh, what a lovely surprise, dears!" Erma smiled.

"We just wanted to do something to thank you all for your efforts," Rhythmi said kindly. "So…Linda and I came up with this idea!"

"What do you think?" Linda asked.

"You've outdone yourself, ladies," Sven complimented. Ryder laughed nervously.

_I wouldn't necessarily put it like that,_ he said feebly. Ryder had a weird look in his eyes; it was as if he was about to snap into insanity at any moment. Keith was the first to notice how filthy Ryder and Alexa had gotten.

"What happened?! Alex, are you okay?!" Keith asked worriedly.

"Last night's weather get to you, pet?" Sven teased. Alexa was far from amused.

"Y-you mean to tell us…that you ignored what I told you and…and sent us on a stupid errand…just for a picnic?!" she fumed.

"Aw, come on, Alex, don't be a kill-joy!" Rhythmi smiled.

"Do you have ANY idea of what Ryder and I have been through just to prove my point!? And all because you were so adamant about keeping this whole picnic idea a secret until you finished dillydallying with it!"

"Lighten up, Alex, Rhythmi and Linda did their best with this set-up," Wendy said with concern.

"Well excuse me for thinking that this was not worth all of the crap – and mud – that Ryder and I have been through this morning!" Alexa snapped. "And this was because you wanted to thank us for our efforts!?

"Y-yeah…for Operation Brighton," Rhythmi said nervously.

"Didn't it occur to you that you could've pulled this stunt within the first week after Operation Brighton!?" Alexa yelled angrily. "Did you really have to wait until I went through MORE crap to pull this off!? I mean, come on! Do you enjoy me suffering or something?!"

"Alexa, that's enough!" Hastings said abruptly. "I suggest you take a deep breath and calm down."

"N-no, I'm sorry, but I can't deal with this," Alexa said quietly.

"Why don't you and Ryder get some rest, dear? Take the rest of the day off and enjoy the picnic," Erma suggested kindly.

"No," Alexa declined, somewhat harshly. "Besides, I don't want to ruin Rhythmi's precious doilies with my filthiness."

_Alex and I are gonna get ourselves cleaned up, and we're going to put our feet up in the comfort of our room, thank you very much,_ Ryder added. Before Rhythmi could object, Alexa and Ryder made their way back down the escalator. Keith looked at Rhythmi, looking mildly disgusted.

"All right, what've you done?" he asked.

"W-we just asked her to get a Roserade, that's all…w-we wanted to see what arm the red bouquet was on," Linda answered.

"That was just a cover, Linda," Rhythmi sighed.

"I'm beginning to see why Alex was so angry with the two of you," Keith sighed. "Alex knows a lot about Pokémon, so why did you have to question her on a simple matter like that?"

"Oh, come on, let's just enjoy this picnic, okay?" Sven said suddenly.

Elsewhere…

Alexa sighed contentedly as she lay in a hot bath veiled with foaming bubbles. Her hair was wet, but clean, and she was mud free. Her body, from the neck below, was hidden within the foaming bubbles and the relaxing hot water underneath.

Ryder, meanwhile, was nearby in the shower cubicle. The hot water raining onto him satisfied him to the core and the mud gradually ran off of his fur and down the plughole underneath the showerhead. His fur was smothered with a smooth lather of bubbles, and he massaged his head to create more bubbles.

_Look at me, I'm showering!_ Ryder said happily. _And I'm using the Pokémon shampoo you got me last week!_

"At least we're getting clean this way," Alexa smiled. "Do you think I was being too harsh on Rhythmi?"

_Nope. She wasted our time and our effort today. She needed a good talking to,_ Ryder replied. _But I don't think I'd speak to her for a while._

"Don't worry, I won't," Alexa said plainly.

Rhythmi and Linda's picnic was a success, regardless of Alexa's harsh reaction to what was supposed to be a nice surprise. Keith, however, couldn't shake off the feeling that he should've been with her instead of enjoying the picnic. Sven, Wendy, Erma and Hastings were mutually relieved that there was absolutely nothing that could threaten Almia, considering that Team Dim Sun was disbanded, at last. Keith decided to sneak away while everyone was distracted. As he left, he could've sworn he heard Rhythmi and Linda talking about Alexa. He shook the thought off quickly and left before he was spotted.

Ryder and Alexa sat on one of the beds and looked through a photo album. The both of them were clean and dry, with Alexa now dressed in her violet pyjamas and cyan blue dressing gown. They were happily looking through the photos depicting some moments in Alexa's past. Until Keith carefully entered the room, at least. Alexa and Ryder looked up at him.

"Are you okay?" Keith asked as he made his way in.

"Y-yeah, we're fine," Alexa replied. "How was the picnic?"

"Pretty boring, considering you weren't there," Keith answered. "But I don't blame you for not wanting to be there. If I were in your position, I wouldn't want to be there either."

_You wouldn't believe how many times we've been in the muck,_ Ryder sighed.

"Slipped on the mud, fell in the river, slipped on the mud because Roserade startled us…"

_Slipped in the mud again while trying to chase the Roserade… _Ryder continued.

"That's…quite a lot… Why didn't you call me? I could've helped you," Keith said with concern.

"And let you get just as dirty? No thanks," Alexa sighed. "I need to stand on my own two feet…"

"We know you can do that anyway," Keith said as he sat next to Alexa. He placed his arm around her shoulders as he looked at one of the photographs in the album she and Ryder were looking at. He looked at one photograph in particular; the photograph of a 10-year-old girl with blonde hair and fuchsia eyes sitting with a young-looking Charizard with a small black band on its left horn. Keith pointed to that photograph. "See?" Alexa looked at the photograph.

"What about it? That was taken on the day Phoenix evolved from Charmeleon," she said.

"If you can stand on your own two feet when you were that young…you can do so now too," Keith smiled. He faced Alexa with a loving smile. "Listen, I know I've saved your life more than once, but that doesn't make you incapable of looking out for yourself."

_I know that,_ Ryder smiled.

"Yeah…thanks, Keith…" Alexa smiled sweetly.

Keith drew Alexa's head closer to him until her head rested on his shoulder. Keith kissed her gently as he held onto her with one arm. He, Alexa and Ryder then continued to look through the photo album.

To be continued… 


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty Two – Monslaughter**

In the Vien Forest, in the middle of the night, a group of Buneary, Shinx and Wartortle narrowly escaped a deathly blade of air that annihilated the bush the fleeing Pokémon broke through. A large bird-like silhouette chased the Pokémon, continually attempting to strike them down with varying manoeuvres; sometimes the silhouette attempted to strike with its wings, hard as steel and just as bright. At other times, it would attack with a devastating tornado attack. The young Pokémon refused to look back at their pursuer as they fled for their lives.

Oblivious to the midnight mayhem, meanwhile, Keith and Alexa were sound asleep, almost huddled up to one another. They and their Pokémon were content in their slumber.

The bird-like being slammed its target onto the ground with its incredibly sharp talons; the Wartortle lay lifeless, bleeding from all of its exposed body parts, with a talon poking into one of its open eyes. Cornered, the Shinx and the Buneary could only look at the disgusting site as the large bird Pokémon stood on top of its first victim. Neither the Buneary nor the Shinx had the courage to resist the terror of Wartortle's killer. The murderous Pokémon seemed to sparkle a little as it held out its wings, ready for flight.

"PIDGEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

Keith's eyes opened abruptly. He turned onto his back and rubbed his still dreary eyes. He soon stretched his arms above his head.  
"That was weird," he mumbled quietly to himself. He looked towards Alexa, only to find that she wasn't there. Keith would've panicked if he hadn't noticed a note addressed to him on her pillow. He noticed Ryder's absence as well as he took the note and opened it. Buizel hopped over to his partner as Keith began reading the note to himself.

_"Keith,  
I didn't want to disturb you, but Professor Hastings gave me a mission in the Oblivia region. We'll be there overnight, sadly. I'll miss you, but it's only for 24 hours, so don't miss me too much, okay? I'll call you later tonight._

_Love you!_

_~ Alexa"_

Alexa's voice seemed to resonate in Keith's mind as he read her curly, yet neat, handwriting. He smiled; she was courteous in leaving a note behind, and she was kind enough to not disturb his sleep. Even though, he thought, he'd rather that she had woken him up; he could've seen her off. He placed the note on the bedside table as he scrambled out of bed; he couldn't let Alexa's absence shirk his work.

After he got dressed, he and Buizel approached Professor Hastings, but the professor had spotted him first.  
"Keith, I'm glad you're here," he said in a cheerless tone of voice. "I need you to be extra careful in patrolling today."  
"How come?" Keith asked in puzzlement. His day just started and he was already being cautioned; whatever the matter was, it couldn't have been a very good one.  
"We heard from Luana last night, dear," Erma explained. "Her Buneary was assaulted along with other Pokémon while in the Vien Forest."  
"Assaulted? But I thought Kincaid was-"  
"No, dear, it was a Pokémon that assaulted Luana's Buneary and the forest Pokémon," Erma said quickly.  
"Is Buneary okay?" Keith asked with concern.  
"She's hurt, but fine," Hastings said plainly. "But the same can't be said for a Wartortle that was found nearby."  
"The Wartortle was found dead at the scene," Erma added.  
"D-dead?!" Keith gulped; he knew Pokémon were powerful, but he had never heard of a Pokémon having killed another before.  
"There was a Shinx along with Luana's Buneary," Erma continued. "Luana took the Shinx, along with her Buneary, to recover at the Vientown Ranger base." Keith was at an utter loss for words; he had a slight hunch that this problem wouldn't fall into his area of expertise.  
"The attack happened in the early hours of this morning," Hastings said, snapping Keith out of his train of thought. "Whether or not future attacks will occur in just the night or at any time remains to be seen."  
"Is there anything I can do, Professor?" Keith asked rather keenly. Professor Hastings heaved a sigh of regret.  
"If I had known about this predicament sooner, I wouldn't have sent Alexa to the Oblivia region... For the moment, Keith, I would just like you to visit Barlow at the Vien Town Ranger base at some point today and get more details from Luana with regards to last night's assault."  
"I don't want to sound rude, but why was Alex sent to Oblivia?" Keith asked.  
"The region's Area Ranger asked us for assistance; he wanted us to send another Ranger to help him with a mission, so I thought Alexa would be a good choice."  
"Are you sure you're not trying to keep us apart on purpose?" Keith asked rudely.  
"No, dear, but given her last quest, we mutually agreed that it'd be beneficial for Alexa to spend some time away from Almia," Erma said reassuringly.  
"Oh yeah. Her last quest didn't go so well," Keith said sternly as he subtly eyed the nervous Operators, Rhythmi and Linda.  
"Precisely. Regardless, take caution wherever you go," Hastings warned. "Whilst there have been no further reports of such assaults as of yet, it doesn't exclude the possibility of the assaults happening in broad daylight."  
"I get it," Keith nodded. He ran out of the room, with Buizel in hot pursuit. Rhythmi, after Keith left, looked towards Professor Hastings.  
"Do you know if Alexa's forgiven us for that?" she asked nervously.  
"Don't involve me in the aftermath of your juvenile antics, Rhythmi," Hastings said sternly.

Buizel stayed close to Keith, anxious about the possibility of an abrupt assault at any given moment. Keith looked down at his petrified partner as he walked.  
"Hey, don't get so worked up, buddy," he said gently. "I don't think the Pokémon that killed that Wartortle's gonna come back right now."  
"Bui...!" Buizel whimpered.  
"It's okay..." Keith tried to reassure his comrade, but he himself was shaken up at the news he had heard from Professor Hastings. Nobody was even sure if the murderous Pokémon had a trainer or not.

The pair soon arrived at Vientown's Ranger base. Keith spotted Luana's Buneary and the wild Shinx on the nearby table, with bandages covering most of their bodies; they almost resembled little Pokémon mummies. Their injuries must have been really severe, Keith thought to himself. Crawford's Budew emitted a sweet aroma from the vines on its head, in an attempt to relax the two terrified Pokémon. Barlow, Luana and Crawford spotted Keith upon his arrival.  
"Hi, Keith," Crawford greeted.  
"I heard from the professor," Keith said blandly, getting straight to the point.  
"I didn't see what had attacked them," Luana said worriedly. "I kept calling out for Buneary and I found her and the Shinx badly wounded...a-and the Wartortle...dead..!"  
"It's all right, Luana, you did the right thing coming straight back here," Barlow said comfortingly.  
"Did Buneary say anything about the attack?" Keith asked worriedly.  
"If she did, I couldn't understand much of what she was saying," Luana stressed. "She was panicky, the poor thing..."  
"Who can blame her? She saw a Pokémon being killed right before her very eyes, for crying out loud!"  
"Thanks for the reminder, Crawford," Barlow sighed.  
"Has there been any other cases like this?" Keith asked.  
"Not that I know of," Barlow shrugged. "This is the first one we've heard of."  
"You mean this has literally just started?"  
"Well I saw a dead Kricketune a couple of days ago," Crawford pondered. "It was weird; poor bloke didn't die of natural causes."  
"It had injuries?"  
"Yep. But...nothing like Wartortle's."  
"Better or worse?"  
"Different types," Crawford stated. "Kricketune didn't die because of a bird Pokémon having attacked it. I reported that its cause of death was strangulation."  
"Did something constrict it or something?" Keith asked.  
"No, the markings on Kricketune's neck looked more like something had clamped its neck," Crawford explained. "It sort of looked like a Gligar's claws, but...it wasn't quite like that."  
"So there's more than one murderous Pokémon out there?! And nobody's doing anything about it?!" Keith fumed.  
"We would be if we knew where they were coming from," Barlow said remorsefully. "I mean, we don't even know if these Pokémon have a trainer or not. And even if we knew that, we don't know what he, or she, looks like!"  
"What a time for Alex to be sent to Oblivia," Keith complained. "If she were here, this would be a piece of cake to solve."  
"I agree, but there's nothing we can do about it now," Barlow sighed. "But I'll tell the Professor you stopped by. We'll do whatever we can to solve this problem."  
"Okay," Keith nodded.  
"There's not really much else that can be done for the moment. I suggest going back to the union and be on standby."  
"Thanks, Barlow."  
"Oh, and give Alex a bell about this," Crawford added. "She should be in the know."  
"Well, yeah, but I'm sure she's busy as it is in Oblivia. I'll wait for her to call me tonight; she said she would in a note she left me."  
"Good idea."  
"Take care of yourself, Keith. And let us know if you need a hand," Barlow said.  
"Will do, thanks," Keith said as he and Buizel made their leave. Budew's beautiful aroma continued to gradually fill the room.

Keith and Buizel felt even more uneasy as they walked through the forest. The news they received from Professor Hastings seemed to be more sinister than they thought. Neither one of them said a word; they just wanted to return to the Ranger Union as soon as they could. The duo suddenly stopped and turned around when they heard the bushes rustling behind them.  
"B-bui...!"  
"It's okay, i-it's nothing to worry about," Keith said nervously. He cleared his throat. "Let's just keep going."  
"Bui...!"

_THWAK!_

"AAGH!" A red blur rapidly blew across Keith and Buizel, striking them without warning. Keith was hit, but Buizel, being as short as he was, evaded the attack effortlessly. Buizel sighed with relief to see that his partner didn't have a scratch on him; the blur only knocked Keith down and nothing more.  
"What was that?!" Keith asked angrily as he stood up. "Urgh, let's just get out of here."  
"Bui!" Buizel nodded.  
"Hold it," demanded a low and emotionless, yet firm, male voice. Keith and Buizel spotted a young Caucasian male with long black hair, which also covered his right eye, brown eyes, dressed in an overcoat and blue trousers. Buizel spotted a Poké Ball hanging from the boy's neck, but Keith noticed the stranger was shirtless underneath his overcoat, which confused him.  
"Who're you?!"  
"Who's asking?" the stranger asked.  
"Uh...me!" Keith sighed.  
"You're one of those Rangers, aren't you?" the stranger asked again, noticing Keith's attire.  
"Hey, I'm asking the questions here! Who are you?!"  
"If you must know, the name's Cain," Cain sighed. "And you'd better not get in my way."  
"Wow, that totally wasn't cliché of you," Keith huffed. "Listen, I've dealt with guys like you before, so, if anything, you had better not get in my way!"  
"I doubt that," Cain said arrogantly, despite his emotionless tone.  
"You wanna try me?!" Cain ignored him, noticing Buizel standing by Keith's leg.  
"Is that yours?" Cain asked.  
"What...? Buizel? Yeah, he's my partner, but don't get any ideas! He doesn't battle!" Keith fumed. Cain smirked.  
"Doesn't matter; it just makes it more entertaining."  
"What're you-"

_GRAB!_

"G'aah!" A large Seviper quickly, and somewhat tightly, wrapped its body around Keith, restricting his movement. Cain took the Poké Ball from his neck.  
"BUI!" Buizel panicked upon seeing his bound partner and raced to help him.

_THUMP!_

"BUI!" Buizel yelped in pain as he felt a large talon slamming down on his back. Buizel managed to look up up the Pokémon that slammed him to the ground; a large one-eyed gold and brown Pidgeot with a fair amount of old battle scars on its body.  
"Buizel!" Keith cried. "Leave him alone!"  
"Once Pidgeot has his eye on his target...he won't let go until he's seen enough blood," Cain said heartlessly.  
"W-what..?! Y-you mean...?!"  
"Heard about the Wartortle then?" Cain asked jokingly.  
"That was you?!" Keith asked with complete and utter fury. "What kind of a monster are you?! You heartless bast—AAAAGH!" Seviper tightened his grip on Keith, preventing him from spewing such profanity.  
"I don't know how many of you there are here, and I don't care. You won't get in my way because my Pokémon won't hesitate to fight any Ranger's partner Pokémon that gets in their path." Keith glared at Cain.  
"If my partner were here, she'd give your Pokémon a run for their money..!" he threatened breathlessly.  
"You have a girlfriend? You don't look like the type to fall for the opposite sex," Cain scoffed.  
"Like you can talk..!"  
"I've no interest in girls, to be honest. Speaking of which, if she gets in my way, I'll do to her Pokémon what my Pidgeot will do to your Buizel."  
"I doubt that...!"  
"Is that what you think? Pidgeot?"  
"Pidgeot...!" Pidgeot spread his wings as he subtly tightened his grip on Buizel's body.

_FWOO!_

Buizel cried out in distress as Pidgeot soared into the air. Cain and Keith watched as the golden bird tossed Buizel out of his grasp and continuously struck the helpless weasel. Pidgeot's attacks were so fast, Pidgeot could barely be seen at all.  
"BUIZEL!" Keith cried. Blood could be seen with almost every strike; Buizel was getting hurt critically. Keith faced Cain in utter horror. "You don't even care about what you're allowing your Pokémon to do?!"  
"If a Pokémon can't fight back, it's weak," Cain said simply. "And that Pokémon in question deserves to die." No matter how much Keith struggled in his scaly binds, he wasn't going to break free any time soon, much to his dismay.  
"You don't deserve to call yourself a trainer!"  
"And you'd know about Pokémon Trainers?" Cain questioned.  
"A-a little; my partner is one! W-well, was...s-she doesn't battle anymore, but still has her Pokémon, so I-I guess that kinda makes her a trainer still...technically..."  
"Hah; you don't even know! Pathetic. And she sounds pathetic by the sound of it."  
"Don't you DARE talk about Alexa like that!" Keith bellowed angrily. As soon as he finished talking, he was startled; not only had he addressed Alexa by her proper name, which he hadn't done since the day they first met, but he gave her away to Cain, which he felt he shouldn't have done.  
"Alexa, huh? That's her name?" Cain pondered. Keith glared at Cain.  
"Whatever you're thinking, don't you dare! I won't let you hurt her!"  
"Please; you're not even in the position to help yourself," Cain said nastily. Keith growled under his breath as he looked at the Seviper's long body wrapped around his own; as much as he hated to admit it, Cain had a point. He couldn't reach his styler to call Barlow for help, he couldn't do anything to stop Cain's Pidgeot from swatting Buizel around like a toy; he was utterly helpless, thanks to Seviper.  
"W-what would you gain from attacking Almia's Pokémon?!" Keith demanded.  
"It's not me that gains anything; it's my Pokémon that gain the satisfaction of an entertaining battle."  
"You're letting your Pokémon go all out on the wild Pokémon because they can't defeat other trainers' Pokémon!" Keith shouted accusingly.  
"Oh, you'd be surprised at how many Pokémon mine have crippled as a result of a 'fair' battle," Cain said casually.

"BUI!" Buizel finally fell to the ground, on his back. Pidgeot slowly descended to the ground and stood over his victim. Buizel was bleeding all over and was barely alive. Keith was devastated at the sight.  
"BUIZEL!"  
"B-bui...!" Buizel coughed. Buizel's spat out more blood as he coughed; he was dangerously close to death.  
"If you get in my way, you'll be planning this Buizel's replacement," Cain threatened. Keith glared at Cain with teary eyes.  
"You wouldn't dare!" he exclaimed.  
"You wanna bet?" Cain asked. Pidgeot carefully placed his talons on Buizel's neck; firm enough to prevent Buizel from moving, if it were possible, but not enough to choke the already wounded Pokémon.  
"No!" Keith cried. "J-just leave him alone! You've made your point!" Keith couldn't fathom why he was giving into Cain; he had no heart, letting his Pokémon kill other Pokémon.

_BAM!_

"PIDGEOOOT!" A large male Luxray tackled into Pidgeot, which knocked him off of Buizel. Luxray stood over Buizel protectively as he growled at Pidgeot.  
"You're the cause, huh?" Sven asked. Keith and Cain looked over at Sven; Keith was surprised, but Cain wasn't bothered.  
"Sven!"  
"Let him go," Sven demanded simply. "I don't want to make Luxray hurt your Pidgeot." Cain simply looked at Sven, showing no signs of emotion whatsoever. "Well?" Cain took two Poké Balls from his pockets; one recalled his Pidgeot, the other recalled his Seviper. He pocketed the Seviper's Poké Ball, but replaced Pidgeot's Poké Ball on his neck. Freed, Keith instantly ran over to his critically wounded partner and scooped him up in his arms. Cain looked at Keith, showing no concern for Keith's feelings.  
"Stay out of my way," he warned once more as he left in a hurry. Sven would've pursued after Cain if he weren't more concerned about Buizel.

"Buizel! Speak to me!" Keith cried sorrowfully. Buizel looked up at Keith weakly; he was so weak he couldn't give his partner one of his usual smiles.  
"B-bui..."  
"The nearest Ranger base is in Puel Town; we can get Buizel there for immediate medical aid if we leave now!" Sven said quickly. Without hesitation, Keith ran off towards said destination, with Sven and Luxray following close behind.

Keith sat at a table in the Ranger base, both hands on his head and elbows on the table; he could not believe what had happened. Both to him and to Buizel; Buizel could've died because of Pidgeot, he gave away Alexa's identity to another threatening figure...the fact that he addressed her by her proper name, as surprising as it was to him, was the last thing on his mind. Sven carefully approached the distraught Top Ranger.  
"Buizel's going to be fine," he said softly as he sat in front of Keith. "I told the Professor what happened; he's trying to work something out with Rand to get Alexa back here." Keith looked at Sven in confusion, with tears in his eyes.  
"Who?"  
"Rand's the only Ranger in the Oblivia region," Sven explained. "Oblivia is a very peaceful region, so the demand for Pokémon Rangers is very low, which is why Rand's the only one there. Look, Keith, Buizel's going to be fine, try not to worry."  
"How can I not?! If you hadn't shown up, he would've died! Like Wartortle and Kricketune!" Keith cried. "Buizel's not cut out for battling like Ryder is..!"  
"And if this guy finds Alexa and Ryder once they're back, Ryder won't have any problems putting those Pokémon in their place! I may have only seen a taste of Ryder's power, but, hey, I'm sure Ryder can face them and win!"  
"It's not that he can't; I'd rather he didn't have to!" Keith wept.  
"Look, why don't we go back to the union once Buizel's rested enough? We can discuss what to do next with Professor Hastings," Sven suggested. Keith wiped his eyes.  
"At least we know who he is now...he said his name was Cain..."  
"That's a start," Sven smiled.  
"...thanks, Sven."  
"Don't worry about it; us Rangers look out for one another," Sven said cheerfully. "Then again, you know that already."  
"Huh?" Keith looked up at Sven again.  
"I noticed how you were prepared to protect Alex when the two of you were on your first mission with me," he said casually. "While it wasn't needed after all, you must've known that Rangers look out for one another."  
"That reminds me, when I told Cain about Alex, I...I called her by her real name."  
"So?"  
"I haven't called her Alexa since we became friends at Ranger school!" Keith exclaimed.  
"It's not a big deal," Sven shrugged. "Personally I call her Alexa because I feel like it. Just call her whatever you're comfortable with."  
"Uh..."  
"Come on, let's get back to the Union. I think Professor Hastings is wondering where we are," Sven chuckled as he stood up from the table.

_Later..._

"Oh my word...!" Erma gasped as Sven finished explaining everything Keith had told him about what transpired between him and Cain.  
"Good news is Buizel's going to be fine; he just needs to rest for the remainder of the day and overnight and he should be good as new," Sven said calmly.  
"That is good news," Hastings agreed.  
"Any luck in getting Alexa back here?" Sven asked.  
"I had Marcus contact her, given Rhytmi and Linda's antics from yesterday. Fortunately, Alexa had finished her mission and will be back with us tomorrow."  
"Why not now?" Sven asked.  
"Rand insisted that she gets a good night's sleep before she returns," Erma answered. "While Alexa is physically unharmed, the mission was a tiring one for the both of them, and Rand didn't want Alexa to travel back to Almia so soon after an exhausting mission."  
"Makes sense," Sven agreed. "Does she know about what happened last night?"  
"Alexa told us she'd phone Keith later tonight, so she'll find out from him," Hastings answered. "We told her about last night's events in short terms, but she told us she'll find out from Keith, seeing as we told him what we know. No doubt she'll find out about Buizel's state."

Keith sat on his bed with Buizel fast asleep nearby; Buizel was almost covered in bandages, which covered and protected his wounds from Pidgeot's onslaught. Keith glanced at his sleeping partner with a small green phone held to his ear.  
"Y-yeah...he's going to be fine," he said in a sigh. "But, Alex, I-I wish I-... Y-yeah, I guess you're right...but I shouldn't have given you away to him!" Buizel opened one eye and looked at Keith with concern. "Are you sure? I'd rather you didn't have to-... I-I guess that's true... Okay...okay, I'll make sure of that. ...What? ...Thanks, Kitten. Alex? ...I love you. ...Okay, see you tomorrow. ..G'night, Kitten..."  
Keith removed the phone from his ear and ended his call. He placed his phone on the bedside table, next to his note from Alexa. He picked up the note again and looked at Alexa's pretty handwriting.  
"...Alexa..." he whispered to himself. "..Alex..." He placed the note back down as Buizel went back to sleep. Keith pulled the plush duvet over his body and lay his head on his pillow, near Alexa's pillow, and fell asleep.

Cain looked up at the Chroma Highlands and spotted the sleeping Pokémon; most of the Pokémon were the Carnivine that'd try to attack anyone for the heck of it. Cain's Pidgeot and Seviper stood beside their master, anxiosuly awaiting to taste Carnivine blood. Cain looked at the horizon; it was almost dawn. He smirked.  
"Sick 'em."

_To be continued..._


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty Three – Aggravation**

Keith gently placed a bowl of Pokémon food, with two small white tablets placed on top of the kibble, in front of Buizel. Buizel happily munched away at his breakfast and his medicine. Keith sat on his bed and watched Buizel eating his meal, paying close attention to the bandages around the Pokémon's body. Though he tried not to, Keith recalled every attack poor Buizel suffered from Cain's blood-thirsty Pidgeot. The memories of yesterday's events stuck to his mind like a a Heracross on Sweet Honey. He glanced at his mobile phone and read the text message on the screen.

_"Two's more than enough. Put them on top of his food intact; Buizel will do the rest. See you later! Xx"_

Keith looked back at Buizel and smiled; he was fortunate he had someone who knew a lot about Pokémon health. He'd noticed that Buizel had eaten the two painkiller tablets that were on top of his food once Buizel stopped eating. Buizel smiled innocently at Keith, as if he was hoping for his partner to cheer up. Keith walked over to Buizel and began taking off the bandages around him.  
"Hope there's nothing permanent," Keith muttered to himself as he unrolled the bandage around Buizel's torso. Keith felt Buizel licking his arm as he unravelled the bandages and looked at the little Pokémon; though he was smiling, his eyes expressed concern about Keith's emotional state. Keith gave of a little sigh as he smiled.  
"I'm fine," he said quietly. Without saying another word, Keith removed the last of Buizel's bandages. At the very most, Buizel only had a few, albeit large, noticeable bruises all over him; his cuts had healed. "So are you, from the look of things."  
"Bui!" Buizel nodded happily. Keith sat on the bed next to Buizel, which made the little weasel concerned again as he heard Keith sigh.  
"I can't believe that happened..."  
"Bui..!" Buizel tapped his foot impatiently. Keith looked towards the slightly frustrated Pokémon, who glared at him with his arms folded.  
"I know I shouldn't keep going on about it! But I'm not used to seeing a Pokémon getting hurt right in front of me!" Keith said in defence. "Certainly not as much as you were..."  
"Bui..." Buizel approached Keith and tapped his arm lightly, as if to comfort his partner. Keith looked away from Buizel, which confused him.  
"I don't know how she did it," he sighed.  
"Bui?"  
"How she coped watching Pokémon getting hurt right before her eyes. I don't doubt that she had a load of battles when she was a trainer, so she must've seen her Pokémon getting hurt," Keith explained. "How do you think she knew about how I could help you?" Buizel remained silent and grew more concerned for Keith. He buried his face in his hands.  
"I don't know what I would've done if Sven hadn't showed up when he did..." he said sorrowfully.  
"Bui...!" Buizel squeezed through Keith's arms and nuzzled his neck. Keith, removing his hands from his face, took Buizel and cuddled him. Buizel smiled warmly as he returned the heart-felt cuddle.  
"You're the closest thing I have to a Pokémon, buddy...I don't want to lose you."  
"Bui...!"

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

"Keith?" Much to his frustration, Keith heard the mood-killing voice of Rhythmi. Keith moaned as he faced the door.  
"What?!" he asked rudely.  
"Uh, the professor wants to see you," Rhythmi answered nervously. Keith sighed as he stood up from the bed. Buizel quickly hopped onto Keith's shoulder before Keith even moved. He opened the door and exited the room. He closed the door behind him as he faced Rhythmi.  
"Alex's coming back later today," Keith began. "Worked out an apology yet?"  
"Look, I keep trying to apologise, but she won't hear me out!" Rhythmi pouted.  
"I meant a GOOD one," Keith huffed as he brushed past Rhythmi. Rhythmi folded her arms and huffed.  
"Come on, it's not like she was hurt or anything," she complained.  
"No, but she could have been." Rhythmi yelped a little as she faced Erma, who was on her way to see Professor Hastings herself. "I pray that you don't pull something like that on her again, dear; she's been through enough as it is without being dragged into meaningless diversions."

Keith approached Professor Hastings, who, once again, had spotted him first. He waited until Keith actually approached him before speaking to him.  
"The Chroma Highlands has become inaccessible," he said plainly.  
"How so?" Keith asked.  
"The Carnivine are running amok. Even more so than usual; they're attacking everything and everyone in their sight," Hastings explained.  
"Cain," Keith hissed angrily, jumping to the conclusion that the heartless trainer was responsible for agitating the Carnivine even more than they needed to be.  
"We don't know that for certain," Hastings said calmly.  
"So what're we going to do about it?" Keith asked impatiently.  
"I've informed Alexa of the situation and asked her and Ryder to take care of the situation before returning to the Ranger Union," Hastings answered.  
"There's no time to wait for her!" Keith exclaimed.  
"There's little choice in the matter," Hastings said firmly. "Alexa has given us her full confidence that she will resolve the problem with as little force as possible."  
"It's not that I don't trust her, but I can't sit by and wait for her while that freak of nature's out there doing more harm!" Keith fumed angrily as he darted out of the room.  
"Wait! Hold it right there!" Hastings exclaimed. He sighed; Keith had vanished from sight. "That boy's going to get himself hurt..."

Keith ran as fast as he could down the Chroma Road. As they ran, Buizel looked around at the numerous terrified Pokémon that originally resided in the Chroma Highlands. He then looked ahead as he continued to race alongside Keith; Buizel was determined to not let himself end up on death's doorstep again.

Keith screeched to a halt once he and Buizel arrived at the Chroma Highlands. He scarcely believed what he saw; every single Carnivine in the Highlands was seething with utter fury and seriously wounded. There was blood everywhere, and various areas of the highlands were damaged, as if a war had taken place. There was no doubt in Keith's mind; Cain had to be responsible for what had happened to the Carnivine.

_CARNIVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!_

The mob of Carnivine all lunged at Keith and Buizel, with their large fly-trap mouths bearing their incredibly sharp teeth. Keith grabbed Buizel and leapt away from the bombardment just in time. Once the Carnivine recuperated form the near miss, they surrounded Keith; their senses seemed to be clouded by the rage resulted from the pain they were suffering from their wounds. Keith looked around hastily; Alexa was nowhere to be seen.  
"Come on, babe..." he whispered to himself, panicky.

_VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!_

Keith held onto Buizel again and held him close as he tried to break through the Carnivine.

_THWAPTHWAPTHWAPTHWAP!_

Keith cried out in agony as the Carnivine lashed out on him with their Vine Whip attacks. Keith was already bruised and exhausted after he broke out of the Carnivine circle.  
"Haven't you given up on that thing yet?" Cain's rude voice broke into the atmosphere like glass shattering on a tile floor. Keith looked up at the highest rock in sight; Cain stood arrogantly alongside his Pidgeot. "I thought it'd have died by now."  
"You!" Keith bellowed angrily. "You did this to them!?"  
"I told you; a Pokémon that can't fight back is weak. These Carnivine should've put up a stronger resistance against my Pokémon if they didn't want to suffer."  
"You prick!" Keith cussed.  
"Speaking of which..." Cain sniggered.

_CHOMP!_

"AAAAAGH!" One of the Carnivine bit on Keith's shoulder. Hard.

_THWAPTHWAPTHWAPTHWAPTHWAPTHWAP!_

Buizel looked up at Keith in devastation as he took the onslaught of Vine Whips, all because Keith refused to let Buizel suffer like he did the day before. Keith struggled to endure the excruciating pain of the whip barrage.  
"Pidgeot."  
"Pidgeot...!"

_FWOO!_

Pidgeot flew into the air and created a whirlwind with his wings, which blew all of the Carnivine away from Keith. Buizel was confused about what Cain had ordered Pidgeot to do, but Keith was too exhausted to care. He glared at Cain angrily; his lip was bleeding and his left eye was black. He had various bruises all over his person, and his left shoulder was bleeding. Tears fell rapidly down Buizel's face as he looked at his wounded partner.  
"You look pathetic. Even more so than yesterday," Cain laughed.  
"And y-you think you're better than me...?" Keith hissed breathlessly. He was exhausted from having taken such a beating; he could hardly talk clearly. "S-say that to my face then...!"  
"The view's fine from up here," Cain shrugged. "Incidentally, you might want to look behind you."  
"Huh?" Keith looked behind him.

_BWAAAAAAAAAAAH!_

Keith spotted the large Carnivine lunging at him, ready to strike him with another Vine Whip. Keith held Buizel close as he braced himself.

_THWAP!_

"Aaaagh!" Keith looked up in absolute astonishment and horror as he heard the agonised yelp of a familiar female voice. Though without frills sticking out of the sides of her head and a fanny pack accompanying her uniform's belt, Keith instantly recognised the girl who defended him. Cain and Pidgeot were mildly astonished at the sight. Alexa glared at the Carnivine.  
"Hey, hey, there's no need to get physical!"  
"A-Alex!" Alexa uncrossed her arms, knocking the Carnivine away from her. She turned her head to face Keith as she held out a hand to him just as Ryder approached her. She smiled rather sheepishly.  
"Sorry I'm late; Oblivia's Staraptor aren't as fast as Almia's Staraptors." Keith gripped Alexa's hand as he strained onto his feet. Alexa faced him fully to help him further.  
"So you're the Alexa I heard about yesterday," Cain said blandly. Alexa and Ryder looked up at Cain angrily as she held onto Keith gently.  
"So you're the murderous beast I heard about yesterday. And I guess that's your Pidgeot, huh?" Alexa asked. While she was extremely furious at what she'd heard about Cain, her voice was absolutely calm. Cain huffed.  
"There's no way you can get in my way," he boasted. "I proved that to your boyfriend by-"  
"Almost killing Buizel; I heard," Alexa said abruptly. "You're not gonna be popular for that one."  
_When are murderers popular anyway?_ Ryder asked rhetorically.  
"True," Alexa nodded.

_BWAAAAAAAAAA!_

The Carnivine all lunged towards Keith and Alexa behind their backs. Alexa sighed as she faced Ryder.  
"Ryder?"  
Ryder held out both paws as they and his eyes shone in a cyan light. The hoard of ravaging Carnivine shone in the same light and suddenly stopped in mid air. Cain and Pidgeot were astonished at what Ryder had accomplished.  
"Wh-what the..!?" Cain stared at the levitating Carnivine in bewilderment as Alexa gently moved Keith against a nearby rock for support.  
"Sorry, I'll need both hands for this," she said quietly. Keith quickly pecked a kiss on her lips before smiling at her warmly.  
"I've never been happier to see you," he said quietly. "Go for it, Kitten." Alexa faced the floating Carnivine, with her right arm held in front of her.  
"Capture on!" she exclaimed as she fired the capture disc from the styler. Cain watched as the capture disc circled the immobilised Carnivine. The Carnivine gradually grew less and less aggressive as the capture disc worked its magic. Eventually, Ryder released the now tranquil, albeit shaken up, Carnivine from his telekinetic grasp and gently placed them on solid ground. As Alexa recalled her capture disc, Keith spotted a red mark just below her styler.  
"Alex, you're hurt!" he exclaimed.  
"It's nothing serious," Alexa said calmly as she glanced at her very superficial wound.  
"So your Lucario's..." Alexa sighed as she looked up at Cain.  
"Not that it's any of your business, but, yes, Ryder is a battling Pokémon," she explained.  
Cain took a Poké Ball from his pocket and released the scarred Medicham from within.  
"Medicham, show me more of that Lucario's power!" he demanded.  
"Medicham!" Medicham leapt down from the rock his master stood on and landed on his feet behind Ryder. Ryder looked behind him, looking rather unimpressed.  
_It's rude to attack someone when their back is turned,_ he sighed. _Then again, I doubt you know any better, what with hanging around a blood-thirsty emo kid._  
"I'm not emo," Cain huffed.  
_Oh. Well...then you need help. Seriously._  
"Medicham!" Medicham lifted his glowing fist into the air and began to slam it down on Ryder.

_BOOM!_

"Cham?" Medicham looked up at Ryder in confusion; seconds before impact, Ryder had simply stepped back a pace. He looked down at Medicham, still looking unimpressed.  
_You're not very good at this, are you?_ he taunted. Medicham snarled under his breath as he tried many times to strike Ryder with his glowing fist. But every hit was a miss; Ryder beautifully, yet simply, dodged each attack.  
_Yawn, I'm getting bored here,_ Ryder taunted again. Cain grew frustrated at how Medicham's attacks keep being evaded by such simplistic dodging; Ryder swayed left and right to avoid the attack. Cain didn't notice that Ryder's eyes subtly shone in a turquoise light; Ryder was using Detect to protect himself from Medicham's attacks.  
"Then fight back, you goose!" Alexa laughed. Ryder smiled as his ears perked up.  
_Ah, I never thought of that!_

_SLASH!_

Medicham cried out in agony as Ryder swiped across his body with a set of claws created from devilish purple aura emitting from the spike at the back of his paw. Cain watched in horror as he witnessed Medicham's defeat.  
_Oh, wait...yes I did,_ Ryder joked as he relaxed in his stance. He glared up at Cain angrily, snarling, exposing his wolf-like fangs. _The only pathetic one I see is you! Making your Pokémon attack those who aren't a threat to anyone! You're nothing but a spineless coward!_  
"Oh please," Cain sighed as he recalled his fainted Medicham back to his Poké Ball. "I'm not the one sobbing over a Pokémon."  
_That proves to me that you shouldn't be a trainer,_ Ryder growled.  
"It's not about having an army of Pokémon at your disposal! Being a Pokémon trainer means that you have a responsibility over the Pokémon on your team!" Alexa added.  
"I heard you gave up the trade; who are you to preach to me when you're not actively battling any more?" Cain asked rudely.  
"I know what I'm talking about; I spent four years travelling with Pokémon," Alexa replied quietly. "And I know an appalling excuse of a Pokémon trainer when I see one!" Cain, without saying a word, turned around and jumped off of the rock he stood on, leaving the area. Pidgeot followed.

_Hey! Don't you walk away from her!_ Ryder roared furiously. _Get your tush back here!_  
"Ignore him, Ryder," Alexa sighed as she twisted the fanny pack around to rummage through it. "There're bigger concerns right now. Look after Keith for me, will you?"  
_S-sure,_ Ryder nodded as he walked over to Keith. They and Buizel watched as Alexa, one by one, applied some spray medicine to the Carnivine. She appeared to be talking to them and vice versa as she gently treated their wounds.

_She got those medicinal supplies from Oblivia,_ Ryder explained to Keith. _She bought them this morning, given what you told us last night._  
"Ryder, why did Alex change her hair?" Keith asked in confusion.  
_She fancied a change of style,_ Ryder shrugged. _So she just combed her frills out. Why, did you think those frills were natural or something?_  
"N-no, I just noticed she looked different."  
_That's not a problem, is it?_ Ryder asked teasingly. Keith smiled warmly as he watched Alexa being friendly to the Carnivine.  
"No...I'm just happy to see her back. What was Oblivia like anyway?"  
_Fairly tropical, albeit a little bit on the yawn-side,_ Ryder replied. _Our mission was to stop all of the Pokémon living on the Wireless Tower from brawling._  
"How many were fighting?" Keith questioned as he faced Ryder again.  
_All of them. Literally, all of them. That's why Rand asked for us to help him; one man can't handle that many Pokémon at once,_ Ryder answered.

Keith and Ryder faced Alexa as she approached them. The Carnivine, happy, healed and content, scattered across the highlands, off to rest.  
"I told them to rest for the remainder of the day, so they should be fine by tomorrow," she said. "Let's get back to the Union; you need medical aid next, Keith."  
"Y-yeah..." Ryder gently took Buizel in his arms as Alexa pulled Keith over her shoulders; she held his right hand with hers and held onto his waist with her left arm. The foursome gently walked out of the highlands, which was peaceful once again.

"Alex? Y-you didn't have to help me like that," Keith said nervously. Alexa smiled sweetly at him.  
"People give help and are helped. That goes for Pokémon too. Everyone lives by helping each other. Don't think of it as what you owe others or what you are owed. Sound familiar?"  
"...yeah..."  
"That said, and I'll sound like a hypocrite for saying this, but...I felt obligated to help you."  
"Why's that, Alex?"  
"It didn't feel right that you helped me so many times and I never got to help you out in return for it," Alexa answered as she lost her smile.  
"...yeah, you do sound like a hypocrite," Keith said nervously.  
_Depression doesn't suit you, Alex,_ Ryder smiled. _Lighten up; we're back in our own territory now. Don't make me tell your parents you've been grouchy._  
"You're right," Alexa chuckled. "Sorry."  
"Hey, don't be. I'm the one that's sorry," Keith said sheepishly.  
"Why?"  
"I didn't listen to Professor Hastings," Keith answered hesitantly. "He's gonna give me a right earful when we get back..."

_Later..._

"You should have listened to me!" Hastings fumed. He stood in front of Keith, who sat on one of the union's hospital beds. Keith looked away from Hastings, with his emotions conflicting with one another. Alexa sat next to him for moral support. Ryder and Buizel were nowhere to be seen. "Why didn't you wait for Alexa to resolve the problem?!"  
"There wasn't time!" Keith exclaimed.  
"According to whom?!"  
"Professor, he was doing what he thought was right!" Alexa said in Keith's defence. Hastings faced her.  
"By risking his life for no reason?! After I told him to wait?!"  
"I know what Keith did was dumb, but we all do dumb things from time to time!" Alexa exclaimed. "I mean, take me! I fought someone, like, four times my size for goodness' sake! And I wasn't in tiptop shape beforehand either!"  
"That scenario is irrelevant to the situation at hand, Alexa!" Hastings snapped.  
"Maybe so, but we've both done stupid things because we were driven by emotion!" Alexa counter-argued.  
"Incidentally, I still believe your analogy was more foolhardy than Keith's actions today," Hastings said sternly.  
"What?" Alexa asked in shock.  
"You intentionally fought with that oversized hooligan; Keith, however, didn't raise his fist like you did."  
"He was against Pokémon! Fighting them with his bare hands would be immoral!" Alexa cried. Keith stood up quickly.  
"Cut her some slack, Professor," Keith said calmly. "How long are you going to hold that against her?"  
"Don't think this means you're off the hook!" Hastings fumed. "You should have listened to my instruction! If you had, you wouldn't be in this foul state! Sometimes I don't know what to do with you two..."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith asked anxiously.  
"You're both dismissed," Hastings sighed. "Go back to your room. I'll speak to you two again tomorrow morning," he said as he left the room.

Ryder and Buizel sat on the white bed, playing with a small rubber ball; the Pokémon were throwing it to one another merrily.

_SLAM!_

Ryder and Buizel looked up at Keith and Alexa; Alexa looked worried and remorseful while Keith was on the verge of losing his temper, as hinted by him having slammed the door shut.  
"That was uncalled for!" he said angrily. "There was no need to bring Heath up again!"  
"H-he was right, though," Alexa said sadly as she flopped herself onto her side of Keith's bed. Her head fell into the pillow and she was facing the ceiling. "I intentionally raised my fist at Heath..."  
_Uh, hey, Buizel, I think the en suite would make for a better playing area than the bed!_ Ryder said nervously.  
"Bui," Buizel nodded in agreement as he and Ryder hurried into the en suite, closing the door behind them.  
"Alex, you were furious at him for kidnapping me; I would've done the same thing if our positions were reversed," Keith said with concern as he sat next to Alexa.  
"Exactly; I was driven by emotion and rushed into things rather than thinking about the situation at hand...and what the consequences of what actions I'd have planned would be..."  
"You wanted to compromise. I mean, let's face it, you couldn't make Ryder attack Heath, given his morals and everything."  
"It didn't do me any favours, though, wanting to make that compromise..." Alexa sat up and held her knees. "If Ryder hadn't given him that gem, I would've been crippled, or worse...Professor Hastings was right..."  
"Never mind him, Alex."  
"How can I not, we're meeting with him tomorrow!" Alexa panicked. Keith sighed.  
"Alex, it doesn't take a psychiatrist to see you're still holding onto the guilt about Heath kidnapping me," he said sensitively.  
"Can you blame me? We were supposed to go straight to the Haruba Desert to help you," Alexa said sadly as she faced Keith with watery eyes. "We stopped to listen to Wyatt's speech about Altru Inc and to help Sven at the Oil Field Hideout. If we went straight to the desert like we were told to, then-"  
"Alex. I need to tell you my side of the story," Keith said reluctantly.  
"Huh?" Keith climbed over Alexa and sat next to her on the bed. He held onto her nearest hand with his. He looked at her as if he was going to regret everything he was going to say.  
"I think it'll stop you feeling guilty. But it's going to be hard to hear."  
"Keith?"

"First thing you need to know is...it wouldn't have mattered when you arrived at the desert or how many stops you took along the way. Heath kidnapped me after my first failed attempt to capture Cresselia."  
"B-but that was...that wasn't long after I gave Professor Hastings the Red Gem!" Alexa said quietly in horror.  
"The message Rhythmi relayed to you was genuinely from me, hand on heart," Keith continued. "Heath ambushed me shortly after I ended the communication. Every voicemail from my styler after that was actually Heath imitating me. Poorly."  
"...I-if I wasn't so abrupt, I could've heard it for myself!"  
"Even if you did, I wouldn't have been able to speak for myself," Keith sighed. "He had me gagged. I couldn't warn you about the deceit."  
"You were there when he imitated you?!" Alexa asked in horror.  
"He did it to taunt me," Keith said sadly. "He really wanted to rub the fact that I was being used to lure you into a trap right into my face. I-in a way, I'm glad you didn't let Heath get a word in edgeways."  
"W-why..?"  
"I don't know. I just was." Keith sighed. "If anyone should feel guilty about losing the Yellow Gem...it's me. I'm the sole reason it was lost to Team Dim Sun in the first place. If I'd succeeded in capturing Cresselia in the first place...none of it would've happened."  
"You don't know that..."  
"You're right..." Keith faced her solemnly. "I'm sorry I told you this, Alex...you shouldn't feel guilty for my mistakes..."

_FWP!_

Keith looked at Alexa in astonishment; she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. Keith gently held Alexa in return. Behind his back, a tear ran down one of Alexa's eyes, despite her calm demeanour.  
"You didn't need to explain yourself...it was just as hard on you as it was on me...or maybe even harder..."  
"You were just as much of a victim in all of it as I was," Keith said softly. He gently released the cuddle and looked at Alexa directly into her eyes. He wiped away her tear with his thumb. "But I was responsible for the Yellow Gem being lost. And I stand by that. Please...don't feel guilty about it any more."  
"..I-I'll try," Alexa nodded. She suddenly perked up. "Oh! Almost forgot about this!" Keith watched her in confusion as she searched her pockets. She gently took Keith's wrist, put something in his palm and carefully pushed his fingers over the object. "I saw this and thought of you."  
"Huh?" Keith opened his hand and looked at the item Alexa handed to him; it was a pair of metal dog-tags on a small sterling silver chain. The tag facing him had his name engraved on it in familiar-looking handwriting. He faced Alexa in bewilderment.

"I-it wasn't personalised originally; Rand's daughter had an engraving pen, and I borrowed it," Alexa explained nervously. "I-it's not as good as what I usually write, since it's my first time using an engraving pen..." Keith looked at the dog tags again before looking at Alexa with a warm smile.  
"I love it."  
"Really?" Alexa watched Keith as he placed the dog-tags around his neck without hesitation. He faced her again.  
"Thanks. I'll take care of them."  
"I-it's nothing, really," Alexa said nervously. "I-I saw them while I was getting the medicine this morning and-" Keith gently pressed his lips against hers, interrupting her speech. He stroked her hair softly as he gradually freed her lips from his and he smiled at her.

"There's something else I want to talk to you about," he said tenderly.  
"What's that?"  
"When Cain talked about you and I told him not to...I referred to you by your proper name," Keith explained. "Alexa."  
"So?" Alexa giggled.  
"...you don't mind if I call you Alexa from now on...do you?"  
"Not at all."

_To be continued..._


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty Four – Confrontations**

A forest-dwelling Salamence roared in absolute agony as a disgruntled Scizor clamped its tail, a large Seviper stuck its huge oozing fangs into the Salamence's hide and a brutal Empoleon slashed at Salamence's neck. Cain stood next to his Pidgeot and watched as his Pokémon ganged up on the dragon. Salamence soon growled angrily.

_SLAM!_

"ZOR!" With his large tail crashing into the ground, Scizor lost its grip. Salamence reared its head and lunged at Seviper.

_CHOMP!_

Seviper choked as Salamence lifted his head and tossed the startled snake at Empoleon; Empoleon took little damage, but Seviper was left giddy after having crashed into Empoleon's iron-hard body. Though weakened, Salamence faced Cain and his Pokémon bravely.

"RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!"

"Medicham, finish it," Cain instructed simply. Medicham lunged from behind Cain and charged at the dragon Pokémon with a frost-bitten fist ready to strike. Salamence inhaled.

"RHEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!"

Salamence exhaled an enourmous breath of incredibly hot air from his mouth, which ground Medicham to a halt. Cain scoffed as Medicham toppled over.  
"Medicham, you're really pathetic..." Medicham looked up at Cain with fear. "I thought you were stronger than this; you've not won a single battle since you evolved."

_THUMP!_

Salamence slammed his watery tail into Scizor's abdomen, winding it. While Cain was preoccupied with Medicham, Scizor and Empoleon had attempted to fight back, but Salamence miraculously swatted them away. Salamence was determined to stay standing, no matter how many foes he fought.  
"Pidgeot. Show Medicham how it's done."  
"PIDGEOOOOOOOOT!"

_SLAM!_

Before he could even react, Salamence was struck critically by Pidgeot's devastating manoeuvre; the feathers on his head had shone in a white light as his body burned with a breath-taking red aura. Salamence's blood spewed all over Pidgeot as Pidgeot's beak somehow managed to penetrate Salamence's throat. Medicham's face turned pale as he witnessed the murder with his own eyes; he hadn't seen one up until that point, and he didn't realise he was supposed to be part of a team of murderous Pokémon. Pidgeot, though bloodstained, flew back to his master's side and watched as Salamence's breath began to escape him. Medicham looked back at Cain in horror, and Cain, in turn, faced Medicham with a look of disappointment about him.  
"If you can't handle seeing it, you're obviously not worth my time."

_In the morning..._

"I have absolutely no idea what to do with you two," Hastings sighed as he faced the two young Top Rangers; Alexa had her eyes set on the floor near her, avoiding eye contact with the somewhat frustrated professor. Keith, however, tried to maintain his composure. "You two can be so reckless at times."  
"Honestly, is it such a crime to show that you care about your profession?" Keith complained.  
"No, but it's extremely foolish to act before you think. Alexa, you should know this better than anyone," Hastings said sternly towards the seemingly depressed Alexa; something was on her mind, but it wasn't Hastings grilling at her. "Alexa? Alexa!"  
"Huh, what?" Alexa jumped with fright as she faced Hastings. Hastings folded his arms.  
"What's gotten into you, girl?! I've never known you to be so distracted! Furthermore, I'd never expect you to condone Keith's actions yesterday!"  
"I-I don't, but I understand why-"  
"Make up your mind!" Hastings snapped.  
"I-I was trying to say that I don't condone what Keith did, or didn't do, in this case, but I can understand why he didn't do it!" Alexa exclaimed in self-defence. "Honestly, if you took a little time to listen every now and then, maybe-"  
"How dare you! That was completely out of order!" Hastings scolded furiously.  
"Leave her alone already!" Keith snapped.  
"What is this, gang up on the old man day?!" Hastings moaned. "The both of you have been extremely reckless from time to time."  
"Alexa's been reckless ONE time!" Keith yelled. Hastings was somewhat startled that he addressed Alexa by her proper name, which, as he understood, he didn't usually do. "I've been reckless more times than she has, cut her some slack!"  
"Precisely. You've been careless in those circumstances, and you could've gotten even more hurt than you were during those situations!" Hastings said angrily. "I'm not saying you're not fantastic Top Rangers," he continued on a more calmer note. "But you've got to stop putting yourselves in harm's way so unnecessarily."  
"There's no way that can be guaranteed," Alexa said shyly.  
"Not with that murderous illegitimate offspring is still out there," Keith added spitefully.  
"Keith, calm yourself. Incidentally, Alexa, it appears that this Cain child is a Pokémon Trainer; are all Pokémon Trainers like him?"  
"No!" Alexa cried. She looked away from Hastings again, looking rather sad. "...a-at least...not all of them..."  
"I apologise; I wasn't under the impression that you were so brutal as a Pokémon Trainer," Hastings said apologetically.  
"I know," Alexa said quietly.  
"Uh oh...Professor!" Rhythmi exclaimed. "There's an alert from Crawford! He found another Pokémon that's been killed!" Hastings faced her.  
"Any details?"  
"Only that it's the male Salamence that's been killed," Rhythmi said shakily.  
"Keith, Alexa, can you investigate?"  
"Sure!" Alexa and Keith complied in unison. They ran out of the Operations room, Alexa following behind Keith. Hastings looked back at Rhythmi.  
"That reminds me, have you made amends with Alexa?"  
"What? Seriously?"  
"Rhythmi..!"  
"Oh, all right, I'll work something out!" she pouted.

_Outside..._

Keith and Alexa, along with their partner Pokémon, approached Crawford, who stood near a large blue body with red wings. Barlow was with him, and he'd spotted Keith and Alexa approaching them.  
"What's happening?" Keith asked breathlessly.  
"See for yourself," Barlow sighed as he looked at the deceased Pokémon. Alexa and Keith took a closer look at the Salamence. Realising that Salamence was truly dead, Alexa stepped back in horror and began to shiver. Keith took note of the many differing injuries all over the Salamence.  
"It's gotta be Cain," Keith scowled. "Nobody else could kill a Pokémon that powerful."  
_Alex? You okay?_ Ryder asked with concern. Alexa looked towards Ryder; she looked rather distraught.  
"I-I'm fine," she said quietly. Crawford approached her.  
"You sure you should be investigating this?" he asked worriedly. Alexa faced him in confusion.  
"W-why?"  
"I can ask Professor Hastings to pull you out of it if you want, Kitten," Keith offered. Alexa looked towards him with further confusion. "Something's been bugging you all morning, I know it is. I'm concerned that you're gonna let it get in the way of this investigation."  
_You sure, Keith? I don't want Buizel to be batted around like a piñata again,_ Ryder said quietly. _Uh...what IS a piñata anyway?_ Alexa slapped her face into her palm.  
"Bagon..."  
"Huh?" Alexa looked at the nearby bush and found a trio of baby Bagon as they approached the deceased dragon. One of the three babies was a sparkly lime green as opposed to being a dull sky blue like its siblings. Keith, Ryder, Buizel, Crawford and Barlow looked at the baby Bagon in confusion. Alexa instantly figured out who the baby Bagon were. She crouched near the babies, who backed away a little in fright.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you," she said softly as she held her hand out. The little Bagons approached Alexa's hand cautiously and sniffed her fingers. One of the Bagon noticed her terra-cotta fingernails.  
_Hey, who're the Bagon?_  
"Salamence's babies," Alexa replied quietly. "I heard one of them say 'papa'."  
"You can understand Pokémon?" Barlow asked in shock.  
"Yeah; it's what happens when you spend your whole like around them," Alexa replied.  
"Think you can talk to 'em about their dad?" Crawford asked.  
"It won't be easy for them, but I'll try," Alexa said reluctantly. She faced the baby Bagon. "Can you tell us what happened to your papa?"

Everyone watched as the babies pantomimed a basic synopsis of their father's brave confrontation with Cain and his Pokémon. Alexa was the only one who understood what the Bagon were trying to explain; everyone else was dumb-founded.  
"What about your mama?"  
"Bagon-Bagon, Ba-Bagon, Bagon," the green Bagon explained.  
"I see..."  
"What the heck is going on, Alex?!" Barlow asked. "I couldn't understand a single word of that!" he complained. Alexa stood up and faced her comrades.  
"They weren't supposed to, but the babies saw the whole thing," she began. "It was Cain that was responsible for Salamence's death."  
"I knew it!" Keith yelled. "What did the Bagon say?"  
"They said their father was being ganged up on," Alexa explained as she bent down to pick up the lime green Bagon. "They think it's because Cain wanted this little guy."  
"What's so special about him?" Crawford asked.  
"You're not familiar with shiny Pokémon, are you?" Alexa questioned.  
"What?" Crawford asked in bewilderment.  
"Case in point. There really isn't anything special about a shiny Pokémon other than their rarity and colour schemes," Alexa explained. "A Pokémon has a very slim chance of being born with colours different from the norm for that species. Like this Bagon; instead of being blue, he's green."  
"Makes sense...I think," Barlow mumbled.  
"Needless to say, a shiny Pokémon is actually a valuable Pokémon, and if one has been spotted in a certain area, people would stop at nothing to get their hands on it," Alexa explained further.  
"Does that mean they get poached?" Crawford asked.  
"Actually, no. Poachers tend to target rare species or powerful Pokémon; they don't care about what colour the Pokémon is. No, trainers who are known as "shiny hunters" try to find them."  
"Shiny hunters?" Barlow questioned.  
"Don't let the name fool you; shiny hunters are actually harmless, albeit obsessed with what they do," Alexa said reassuringly. "Trust me, I've seen one in action," she added as she put the shiny Bagon back with his siblings.  
"You have?" Keith asked.  
"Yeah, in the Hoenn region; I was going towards Route 114 when I saw a shiny hunter trying to capture a shiny Zangoose while recording it on film," Alexa elaborated. "That said Zangoose ultimately got fed up of the shiny hunter and wanted me to do something about it. Shandra, my Gardevoir, defeated his Pokémon and the shiny hunter ran off crying. Literally; it wasn't a pretty sight."  
"May I ask...how old was this guy?" Barlow asked.  
"Uh...I was 13 when I saw him, but I think...well...I don't think he was any older than 25 at the time," Alexa mumbled to herself. "Getting back to the topic at hand, I assume Cain had his Pokémon kill Salamence because of Ryder."  
_Oh, thanks!_ Ryder said sarcastically.  
"I'm not saying it's your fault, Ryder," Alexa sighed. "I just believe that Cain might be thinking about having his Pokémon fight you, that's all."  
_Oh. He saw my power, didn't he?_  
"Yep," Alexa nodded.  
_Well maybe if he hadn't been such a pain in the tush and agitated the Carnivine, I wouldn't have had to use my power!_ Ryder complained.  
"I agree whole-heartedly," Barlow nodded. "Clearly Cain's going to be a problem if his Pokémon are strong enough to kill this Salamence."  
"That may be, but it wasn't a fair fight," Alexa stated as she looked at Salamence's deceased corpse. "Look at these injuries; there is no way they all came from the same Pokémon. The saddest thing about it is that Salamence tried to fight back...I can make out some defence wounds too."  
"We need to do something about this!" Keith exclaimed. "How many more Pokémon is Cain willing to slaughter until he's satisfied?!" Alexa winced subtly; Keith's use of the word 'slaughter' apparently bothered her. She looked down at the baby Bagon.

"You should go back to your mama and stay out of sight," she said quietly. "You'll be safe there, I promise."  
"Ba-Bagon," the babies nodded. They remorsefully looked back at their dead father one last time before they scurried into the bushes. Alexa stood up again and watched the Bagon running towards their cave.  
"...Ryder? Can you dig a hole large enough for Salamence please?" she asked.  
_Aye, aye!_ Ryder saluted. He then suddenly began tearing the ground away with his paws. The hole he dug grew bigger and bigger with every stroke of his paws.  
"Alexa, what's he doing?" Keith asked. Alexa faced him.  
"There isn't a burial site like Mt Pyre around in Almia; the least I think we can do is give Salamence a dignified burial right here," she explained.  
"That's a nice thought," Barlow smiled.  
_Okay, I think it's big enough now!_ Ryder said as he popped his head out of the large hole. _Is it suitable?_  
"Yeah, it's fine," Alexa said as she examined the size of the hole. Ryder carefully used his Psychic technique to slightly lift Salamence's body off of the ground and gently placed it inside the hole. Ryder filled the hole with the soil he dug up respectfully and, once the hole was filled, and Salamence was out of sight, walked around the improvised grave, on all fours, tapping the soil with his feet to smooth the dirt out.  
_Done. Now what?_  
"We try to find Cain, of course," Alexa answered.  
"Almia is a region of peace, his blood lust won't be tolerated here," Barlow added.  
_Yay verily,_ Ryder nodded.  
"Crawford and I will look around the forest in case Cain struck again," Barlow said.  
"Alexa and I will report back to Professor Hastings about this then," Keith stated.  
"See you guys later," Crawford said as he and Barlow ran off towards the Vien Forest. Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel made their way towards Puel Town.

"Alexa, I know you're more of an expert on Pokémon Trainers than the rest of us, but...are you absolutely sure that you're okay with investigating all of this?" Keith asked worriedly.  
"I'm fine," Alexa insisted. "I-I just don't like seeing Pokémon having been killed is all..."  
_Given how close you are to Pokémon, that's only natural,_ Ryder said softly.  
"It's pretty impressive that you can understand Pokémon, though," Keith smiled.  
"Not really, my parents can as well," Alexa shrugged. "And Keenan. We can all understand Pokémon as if they were speaking in plain English."  
"By the way...when the Pokémon cry out while under the influence of a Gigaremo or Miniremo...what do they say?" Keith asked.  
"Nothing; it's just a battle cry," Alexa replied. "A poorly executed one at that; it was more like a simple yell to be honest. Why?"  
"Just curious is all," Keith shrugged.  
As the foursome arrived at Altru Park, Ryder suddenly stopped and sniffed around. Alexa and Keith, noticing that Ryder had stopped, looked back at him.  
"What's wrong?" Alexa asked.  
_I can smell blood,_ Ryder replied. He looked towards the Chroma Road. _That way._  
"Don't tell me Cain struck again!" Keith complained.  
"Keith, you should tell Professor Hastings about the Salamence; Ryder and I can investigate this," Alexa said.  
"Are you sure?" Keith asked.  
"The last thing I want is Buizel getting hurt again," Alexa said firmly. "Ryder's strong enough to at least hold off Cain's Pokémon until help arrives."  
"...okay. Be careful," Keith said with concern. Alexa and Ryder raced off towards the Chroma Road. Once they were out of sight, Keith lifted his right arm up and opened a communication with his styler.

Alexa followed Ryder as he followed the scent of blood he picked up from the park. Alexa stayed close to Ryder as he sniffed at the air around him.  
"It must be getting stronger; I can smell it too," she said quietly.  
_Yep,_ Ryder nodded. _I just hope it's not the Salamence's mate that I'm smelling out here—huh?_ Ryder stopped in his tracks and looked down; he stepped into a pool of blood. _Ew._ He lifted his foot up and checked his bloodstained paw pads. _We're here._

With a sense of dread about them, Alexa and Ryder looked behind the bush the blood came from. Alexa immediately turned white, covered her mouth and staggered back in absolute terror as tears overwhelmed her eyes. Ryder, on the other hand, turned pale, dropped his ears and stared at what he had sniffed out; a Medicham's dead corpse lay limp against the tree trunk. Medicham's eyes were open and lifeless, its chest literally torn open, exposing its damaged internal organs. There were various other superficial wounds all over the Medicham's corpse, and its left arm looked as though it could break off at any given moment. But amongst all of the wounds, there wasn't a single defence wound in sight; Medicham didn't stand a chance.  
_...Holy...Muk..._  
"It was worthless anyway."

Cain's insensitive voice broke the tense atmosphere, as Ryder and Alexa faced the heartless trainer and his golden Pidgeot in shock.  
"C-Cain...?"  
"Bloody thing didn't even lift a finger to defend itself," Cain huffed. "I dunno why I even bothered trying to train it in the first place." Overwhelming fury dominated Alexa as she heard Cain's harsh words.  
"Medicham was YOUR Pokémon?! And you killed him?! What kind of heartless fiend are you?!"  
"Pokémon are built for nothing more than to fight; if they can't fight, they might as well be dead," Cain said rudely. Alexa's tolerance for Cain quickly declined as she heard such talk.  
"You know NOTHING about what it means to be a trainer!" she shouted furiously. "If a trainer isn't satisfied with their Pokémon, they trade that Pokémon to a trainer that wants it or, at the very most, releases that Pokémon, TRAINERS DON'T KILL THEIR OWN POKÉMON!" she cried at the very top of her voice.  
"Alexa!" Keith called. Alexa and Ryder looked back and found Keith and Buizel approaching them hurriedly.  
"Keith?!" Keith approached her and panted to catch his breath.  
"I heard you all the way from the park! What's going on?!"  
"She just found my Medicham, that's all," Cain shrugged.  
_Too right we did! That sadistic killer murdered his own Pokémon!_ Ryder snarled angrily. Keith looked at Cain in disbelief.  
"What the hell, man?! Killing wild Pokémon wasn't enough for you that you had to kill your own Pokémon as well?! I hope karma catches up to you!"  
"I'm scared," Cain said sarcastically as a decrepit-looking Absol walked from behind him. As malnourished as the Absol looked, it didn't appear to be suffering in any way, but it had a ghastly amount of old scars all over its body. There was a large cut over its nose and is missing a claw on its front left foot. Alexa was appalled at the sight.  
_Yeah, well, you should be,_ Ryder growled. _After all...you murdered someone's father!_ Ryder lunged towards the Absol as the spike on the back of his right paw illuminated in a white light and formed three razor-sharp claws. Absol's scythe shone in a pink-purple light and...

_CLANG!_

Ryder's claws collided with Absol's scythe. Both Pokémon were snarling at one another angrily.  
"Lucario appears to be well trained. I fail to understand why you aren't a trainer instead," Cain said bluntly to Alexa.  
"I refuse to lose another Pokémon because of battle. Ryder, fall back!" Alexa exclaimed. Ryder's growling faded and carefully ceased his attack, willingly following Alexa's order. Absol walked back towards Cain and glared at the Lucario. Keith was left confused at what Alexa had just said. He didn't understand why she called Ryder off of Absol either. Cain laughed quietly.  
"If you're going to hold back like that, you'll never win over me," he mocked. Alexa clearly struggled to contain her overwhelming emotions of hatred and sadness.  
"Why are you even here...?"  
"The Orre region got boring," Cain said simply. "Absol?"

_FLASH!_

"AAGH!" Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel were blinded as an intense flash of light burst from Absol's scythe. When the light faded, Cain, Absol and Pidgeot were nowhere to be seen. Keith looked at Alexa with further concern.  
"Are you okay?" he asked.  
"I-I think so..." Alexa said shakily. She looked back at Medicham's body. "What should we do about...?"  
"Alexa...come on, you're not fit for this," Keith sighed. Alexa looked at him in astonishment.  
"What?!"  
"You're getting too worked up over this. I can understand why, but I'm concerned that it'll get out of hand," he explained. "Come on; you've seen enough for today."  
"...okay," Alexa nodded nervously. Keith gently took her hand and escorted her away from the Chroma Road. Buizel followed happily, but Ryder walked back towards the Medicham's body. He gently closed Medicham's eyes with his paw.  
_Arceus...please...watch over Medicham,_ he prayed. He gave the dead Medicham one final glance before he ran off after Alexa and Keith.

_Later..._

"I've asked Sven and Wendy to deal with the Medicham," Hastings said to Alexa and Keith. Ryder and Buizel were also at their side in the Operations room. "But you are right to express your concerns to me, Keith. Alexa, I'm afraid I'm withdrawing you from this investigation. Do you understand?"  
"Y-yes," Alexa said quietly. "I'm sorry..."  
"You've done nothing wrong, Alexa," Erma said gently. "But we believe it is for the best that you sit this investigation out."  
"I-I know," Alexa nodded.

"PROFESSOR!" Rhythmi screamed as she ran up the escalator. Keith flinched as he heard her ear-piercing screech.  
"For the love of all things, Rhythmi, are you intent on giving me a heart attack?!" Hastings fumed.  
"Whatever is the matter, dear?" Erma asked.  
"O-okay, I-I was going to drop something off in Keith and Alexa's room w-when I-I saw...t-this!" Rhythmi exclaimed, holding up an amulet. Alexa's eyes widened at the amulet; the chain was a thin sterling silver chain, and the amulet was clear and it contained a small preserved fragment of a Butterfree's wing.  
"Hey, that's mine, give it back!" Alexa demanded furiously. Everyone in the room, barring Ryder, looked at her in astonishment.  
"Y-yours!? Y-you wear a piece of a Pokémon's wing?! That is so gross!" Rhythmi said in disgust.  
"I said give it back!" Alexa demanded again.  
"Alexa, calm yourself, dear," Erma said firmly. "Rhythmi, you shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you."  
"But, Alexa, why would you carry this thing around?! I mean, I know it's just a piece of a Pokémon's wing-"  
"A Butterfree's wing," Alexa said abruptly. "Give it back! I mean it!"  
"But why would you carry it around? It's just a piece of a Butterfree's wing, it can't mean all that much," Rhythmi said ignorantly as she looked at the wing fragmnet; the markings on it were dark blue instead of the usual black. "What is it, a trophy or something?"

_WHACK!_

Without warning, Alexa punched Rhythmi in the eye and the two girls fell to the ground. Keith, Ryder, Buizel, Hastings, Erma and the Operators were absolutely horrified as Alexa tried to brawl with the terrified Rhythmi, who tried her hardest to defend herself.  
"Don't you DARE assume I'm ANYTHING like that murderous waste of skin! You don't know anything about me, don't even THINK about assuming that you know me!"  
"Alexa!" Keith pulled Alexa forcefully off of Rhythmi and restrained her to the best of his abilities. Despite the restraint, Alexa attempted to fight back at Rhythmi. Ryder looked at her in horror; he hadn't seen such an outburst from Alexa in all his life. Alexa was completely offended and enraged, yet her eyes started to release tears.  
"How dare you make assumptions about me based on what I have! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BEEN IN OUR ROOM!"  
"Alexa, that is enough!" Hastings shouted. Linda and Erma approached Rhythmi and helped her up. Rhythmi had a large bruise on her left eye and was dreadfully shaken up. Keith continued to restrain Alexa, who was still completely livid and fuming at Rhythmi. Ryder picked up the amulet Rhythmi had dropped during the struggle.  
"And here I thought you couldn't get any worse, you ignorant little-"  
"Alexa, that will do!" Hastings scolded. "Yes, Rhythmi should not have invaded your privacy, but you shouldn't have assaulted her like that!"  
"Professor," Erma said quietly. She approached him and whispered something to him inaudibly. He nodded and faced Alexa.  
"Alexa, I'm suspending your duties with immediate effect."  
"What?! Y-you can't do that!"  
"It's for the best, Keith," Erma said worriedly. "Alexa, dear, I don't know what's been on your mind all day, but you've gone too far by hurting Rhythmi like this."  
Alexa's hostile anger faded into further sorrow and regret as her tears fell more constantly down her face. She closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth and avoided eye contact with everyone, resisting the urge to weep.  
"I know today has been a shock to you, dear, but you're not in the right state of mind to continue in your duties right now," Erma said sensitively. "As much as I hate to say this, but you've been different since you returned from Oblivia..."

Alexa broke free from Keith's grip and fled from the Operations room, almost in tears. While Hastings and Keith looked at Rhythmi, Ryder sighed to himself as he looked at the amulet in his paw. He quietly left the room to follow Alexa.  
"Are you all right, dear?" Erma asked Rhythmi. Rhythmi's breathing was unsteady and rapid; she was terrified.  
"I-I-I..."  
"What were you doing in our room anyway?" Keith asked.  
"I-I-I-I wanted t-to l-l-leave a-a note a-and..."  
"You found the amulet?" Hastings assumed. Rhythmi whimpered as she nodded. Linda helped Rhythmi onto her feet.  
"Come on, let's get you to the medical room," she said softly as she escorted Rhythmi out of the room. Keith looked back at Hastings with guilt about his face.  
"W-when I said she shouldn't be a part of this investigation, I-I didn't mean she should be suspended!"  
"I realise this, Keith," Hastings said quietly. "But she was completely out of order, assaulting Rhythmi in such a crude fashion. She has to understand actions have consequences."  
"But she already knows this!"  
"Even so, it would be wrong of me to not suspend her for this. She doesn't get any special treatment, she's going to be treated just like any other Ranger."  
"...but..."  
"No excuses," Hastings said sternly. "She will be suspended until Cain has been apprehended and handed over to the International Police."  
"In the meantime, dear, I will deal with her and Rhtyhmi," Erma added. "This means you are in charge of this investigation, Keith."  
"...okay," Keith nodded. "I-I'm...I-I should go..." He walked away from Erma and Hastings and out of the room.

Keith entered his and Alexa's room and found her on his bed, sobbing rather loudly into her pillow. Ryder was next to her, stroking her back comfortingly. Keith closed the door softly and approached Alexa. He sat next to her and faced her worriedly.  
"Alexa..?"  
"H-huh..?" Alexa turned to face Keith in confusion; her face was red and her eyes were soggy with her tears. She sat up. "K-Keith..! I-I..."  
"Shhh..." Keith gently placed a finger over her lips. "Come here," he whispered as he gently drew Alexa closer to him and cuddled her. She held onto him rather tightly as she began to sob quietly. "What was all of that about...? Hey..?"  
_There's a meaning behind the amulet,_ Ryder said quietly as he showed Keith the Butterfree wing fragment. _Mostly what it's holding, anyway._  
"W-what does it mean?" Keith asked carefully.  
_This wing piece...came from Lydia._

_To be continued..._


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35 – Depressions**

"Alexa? Alexa, honey?" called a motherly voice from outside the silent bedroom. Alexa lay in her bed, looking depressed and unenthusiastic. Her eyes were tired and sore, as if she cried herself to sleep but woke up in the middle of the night. A blue and shiny white Zangoose overlooked her human friend with concern; Alexa hadn't said a word since she moved into Chicole Village, nor had she looked at anyone in the eye.

Lily stood outside the grey bedroom door, concerned for her daughter. She knocked on the door again.

"Alexa..." She sighed. "Come down when you're ready, sweetheart," she said finally before leaving Alexa in peace.

Keenan and his Vaporeon ally, Iara, sat on the red leather sofa and watched a police drama on the plasma television. Hayden sat at the table reading the new edition of the Vien Tribune, paying particular interest in the news regarding Cain's psychopathic antics. His Mismagius, Malik, watched Hayden from the other side of the kitchen table with worry, feeling empathic towards his trainer. Lily arrived and instantly made her way towards the kettle. Hayden watched her as she prepared to reboil the already hot water.

"Lily, it's still hot," Hayden said.

"Yes, I know," Lily sighed. "Still no word from her..."

"Hun, Lydia's fresh on her mind after, what, seven years? She's probably gathering her thoughts about the matter," Hayden assumed. Keenan and Iara looked at one another.

"Among other things," he whispered.

"Por," Iara nodded quietly.

"You can't tell me you're not worried, Hayden," Lily said as she rubbed her forehead with her fingers.

"Alexa hasn't said a word since she arrived; as soon as she did, she retreated to her bedroom. Of course I'm worried," Hayden said as he placed the newspaper down on the table.

"It's just not like her...it's not like her to hit someone."

"I know it isn't," Hayden said as he approached his distraught wife. "It's not like she did it on purpose; she was provoked."

"I'm not condoning what she did, but-"

"Neither am I. But she was provoked. Besides, the fact that she's not looking anyone in the eye has got to prove how guilty she is about hitting her friend."

"Alleged friend," Lily corrected.

"Oh, yeah; the whole Roserade thing," Hayden grumbled as he sat back at his chair. Malik rolled his eyes as he pushed his glasses a little further up his face.

"Mis-mah-gius," he sighed.

"I agree. If she just trusted Alexa in the first place, the two wouldn't be on negative terms right now," Hayden sighed. Keenan shuffled himself to look at his parents from the sofa.

"Has she said anything? Alex, I mean," he asked with concern.

"No," Hayden replied. "I went to pick her up from the Ranger Union, and she hadn't said a word or even looked at me since we left."

"Seriously?"

"I tried to make conversation, but she never said a word. I know she was ashamed of herself, and still is, I suppose, but...she just seemed very depressed."

"Nobody told us the full story about what happened," Lily sighed. "We were just told to take Alexa home because she's been suspended for assault."

"I don't believe it!" Keenan said suddenly. "There's no way she'd hurt anyone!"

"Poreon..." Iara tugged at his T-shirt sleeve with her paw. Keenan looked towards his partner.

"...that was different, he was a bad guy!" he exclaimed. He stood up from the sofa and raced towards the front door.

"Where're you going?" Lily asked.

"To find out what really happened yesterday," Keenan replied.

"Por!" Iara leapt from the sofa and followed Keenan out of the house.

"Be careful!" Lily called out before Keenan closed the front door behind him. Lily sighed as she sat next to Hayden.

"I know why you're concerned; if Keenan can defeat Palmer twice, I'm sure he'd be able to hold his own against this Cain kid," Hayden said reassuringly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Lily held onto his hand with her own.

"Alexa was fine before she encountered him, though...I'm beginning to see what Erma meant."

Keenan and Iara ran into Vien Town and past the Ranger base. Barlow spotted the two and intercepted them as they approached the forest.

"Whoa, what's the hurry, kiddo?" he asked.

"We're trying to get to the Ranger Union," Keenan explained. "I want to know what happened with my sister!"

"So you're Alex's brother, huh?"

"Yeah; Keenan," Keenan replied.

"You sure you should be out here on your own?"

"I'm fine," Keenan said spitefully. "Can you not underestimate me because I'm 12!?" He brushed past Barlow and ran towards the forest with Iara trying her hardest to catch up to him. Barlow looked back at him in confusion.

"What'd I say?"

Eventually, Keenan and Iara arrived at the Ranger Union and stopped to catch their breath once they were through the automatic doors. Keenan looked around in confusion.

"Now what?"

"You okay, kid?" Murph asked. Keenan and Iara looked towards Murph as he approached them.

"I want to talk to someone about my sister," Keenan explained. "My name's Keenan, I'm Alex's brother."

"Ah. I think you need to speak to the professor about her. Maybe afterwards, you and I could have a nice cold drink, what do you say?" Murph smiled.

"I'm 12, not stupid," Keenan sighed. Murph was taken aback at Keenan's attitude, but cleared his throat nervously not long later.

"Right, I-I'll, er, escort you to him," he stuttered. Keenan and Iara followed Murph up the escalator.

"Wait, wait, wait...you're saying that you won't let me leave the Ranger Union unless Ryder's with me?!" Keith exclaimed angrily.

_Why not? I don't want Buizel to end up like Medicham or Lydia!_ Ryder growled.

"I don't know who this 'Lydia' is, but Ryder is correct; I don't wish to put Buizel's life at risk again," Hastings said firmly. "Ryder can battle, Buizel cannot, therefore Ryder is ideal for a bodyguard."

"Cain will be needing a bodyguard when I'm through with him!" Keith yelled.

_But I don't want Alex to see you in a body bag!_ Ryder roared.

"I can look after myself!" Keith snapped.

_Says the Ranger who got snared by a Seviper and assaulted by Carnivine!_ Ryder argued.

"Calm down!" Keenan cried.

Keith and Ryder looked behind them to find Murph arriving onto the scene with Keenan and Iara following.

_Sorry, mate,_ Ryder apologised.

"How's Alexa?" Keith asked. Keenan shook his head slowly.

"Not even a word?" Hastings asked.

"She won't even look anyone in the eye," Keenan sighed.

"I assume you're here to find out what happened, correct?" Hastings questioned.

"Yes, sir," Keenan replied politely. Murph looked at Keenan in confusion, remembering the attitude he witnessed earlier on.

"Hmm.. Keith, Ryder, I think it'd be wise if you went on patrol for now," Hastings said. "And no more bickering."

"Okay," Keith said reluctantly.

_What's wrong with me?!_

"Nothing," Keith said quietly. He faced Keenan as he went towards the escalator. "I'll come by later on, okay?"

"Okay. I think she'll like that," Keenan smiled. Keith smiled back as he and Ryder made their way out of the room. Keenan and Iara approached Hastings. He instantly noticed Iara's strange size.

"That's a rather small Vaporeon you have there," he said, almost heartlessly. Iara sat down, pouted and looked away from the man.

"So? She was the runt of her litter, she can't help that. I love her anyway, I don't care if she's smaller or even taller than average."

"All right, all right, I don't need a lecture," Hastings mumbled to himself. "You're here to ask about your sister, am I right?"

"You already asked me that," Keenan sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Iara looked cross towards Hastings as he began to pace around.

"Right, right... First and foremost, Alexa has been suspended from her duties," he began.

"I know that. But did she really hit Rhythmi?" Keenan asked worriedly.

"It would have been more than a simple hit if Keith hadn't intervened," Hastings said, looking at Keenan with a hint of regret about what he was going to say. "It was a full-on brawl."

"Brawl?!" Keenan asked in shock.

"It means fight," Hastings explained.

"I know what it means!" Keenan snapped. "What happened?! Alex isn't usually so quick to anger!"

"It's...ridiculous, if I say so myself; it was over a necklace Rhythmi had found," Hastings continued. "It contained a flake of a Butterfree's wing inside."

"The flake didn't have blue markings on it, by any chance, did it?" Keenan questioned. Hastings looked towards Keenan in bewilderment.

"Yes. How do you know that?" he asked. Keenan looked at the professor sadly.

"It came from Lydia's wing," he explained.

"Lydia's a Butterfree?"

"Was."

"Meaning what?" Hastings asked in further confusion. Iara lowered her head in mourn.

"She was killed, sir," Keenan answered quietly.

"By Cain?"

"No, sir; it was seven years ago," Keenan answered as he shook his head. "I was only five at the time, but I remember it."

"What happened?"

"I had to find out from Phoenix; Alex was so distraught she couldn't think straight. They were outside Lavender Town, just outside Rock Tunnel, when it happened. A Hiker challenged her to a battle. Lupin, newly evolved into Kadabra, took down the Hiker's Geodude with ease. Onix, though, was a tougher challenge for him."

"I fail to see how-"

"Hear me out," Keenan said abruptly. "Lupin wasn't in doing much damage to Onix, and Onix thrashed him about. Onix was about to finish the battle off with an Iron Tail when..." He sighed. "Alex was about to send Phoenix into the battle to deflect the Iron Tail with a Metal Claw, but Lydia had her own plan; she intercepted the attack with her own body."

"Why would she do that?"

"She and Lupin were very close; I guess Lydia thought Onix was going to kill Lupin," Keenan shrugged. "Phoenix did end up beating the Onix and winning the battle after all, but nobody was happy about the win. Lydia's wing ripped as she fell to the ground after getting hit, and died from her injuries. I don't know any more than that; I just know that when she came home, Alex made a memorial for Lydia in the garden."

"I'm sorry for her loss. But that's no excuse for-"

"And she knows that," Keenan said sharply. "She's ashamed of herself as it is! Nobody's been able to get through to her since yesterday!"

"Yes, well...her mission yesterday didn't help matters, I must admit," Hastings said quietly.

"What happened then?" Keenan asked.

"It's not something I should discuss with a child," Hastings replied.

"Hey! If something happened to my sister yesterday, I want to know about it!" Keenan snapped.

"You sound like you care about her," Hastings said plainly.

"You bet I do! I love her!" Keenan said boldly. "And I hate seeing her upset! How am I supposed to help her if I don't know what's upset her in the first place?!"

"Fair point..." Hastings sighed. "All right...she saw two dead Pokémon yesterday," he said reluctantly.

"Two?"

"One was a wild Salamence who was killed by Cain's Pokémon sometime the night before. As for the other...it was Cain's Medicham."

"A trainer killed his own Pokémon!? No wonder Alex's upset!" Keenan exclaimed.

"I do admit I find it strange for a trainer to murder his own Pokémon, but from what I was told yesterday, Alexa was very distraught."

"I guess you suspended her because she had a go at Rhythmi?" Keenan assumed.

"Not exactly; her suspension is for her own safety. She was, and still is, I presume, in no fit state to continue her duties. Erma is going to deal with Alexa and Rhythmi herself, and it will be in an adult manner. Have I answered your questions?"

"Y...I-I guess..." Keenan sighed. "But now I'm even more worried about Alex... C'mon, Iara." He started to make his way out of the room. Concerned, Iara followed him closely. Hastings watched as Keenan left the room, looking rather glum.

Outside, Keenan and Iara walked leisurely along the rural path outside Puel Town, heading towards the Vien Forest. Iara looked up at Keenan worriedly.

"Vapor..."

"Sorry...I know what happened an' all, but I don't think I'll be able to help her enough; I've never seen a dead Pokémon before," Keenan sighed. "I guess that makes me lucky, huh...?"

"Poreon..." Iara rubbed her head against Keenan's hip. Keenan stroked her head as he smiled at her.

"I guess you're right," he admitted. "Just because I can't fully empathise with Alex, it doesn't mean I shouldn't try to help cheer her up period. I just need to be careful about what I say when it comes to that."

"Vaporeon!" Iara cheered happily as she pranced around gracefully. Keenan watched Iara as she looked up happily at him.

"Thanks, Iara. I'm glad someone knows what to say about all this," he said sheepisly. Iara sat down.

"Poreon," she grinned. "Por?" She looked behind her in confusion.

_BOOM!_

"POOR!" Iara leapt away from the large sphere of energy that crashed into the same spot she sat in not two seconds ago. The sudden attack startled Keenan as much as it startled Iara. She ran back to Keenan and they looked at the three headed black and blue behemoth that attempted to assault Iara. Its eyes were blood shot red and its fur was messy.

_BROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!_

"A-a Hydreigon?! What's one of those doing here?!"

"It's mine," Cain replied as he approached his fiercely intimidating beast of a Pokémon. "You a trainer or something?"

"Who're you?" Keenan asked. "And what gives you the right to attack without warning like that?!"

"Another goody-two-shoes. Just great," Cain complained.

"Another—wait a minute...aren't you Cain?" Cain looked at Keenan as he raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know my name?"

"Easy; you're the one who's upset my sister!" Keenan yelled.

"Alexa has a brother? I guess I can see the resemblance; you look just as pathetic as she does," Cain mocked.

"You don't know her!" Keenan snapped.

"What're you going to do, little boy? You going to cry?" Cain taunted.

"I have better things to cry about than a bully! But I'm not going to fight you!"

"You're going nowhere until you do," Cain threatened.

"What's the matter with you?! If you want a battle, you ask! You don't strike from out of the blue!"

"Speaking of which, you look ridiculous, trying to be all blue like your shrimp of a Vaporeon," Cain huffed, pointing at Keenan's blue water drop print T-shirt.

"Don't call Iara a shrimp! She was the runt of her litter, but that doesn't make any difference to her skills!"

"Then fight me then," Cain said simply.

"Por...!"  
"No, Iara, I don't want you to battle yet," Keenan said as he took a Poké Ball from his belt, hidden underneath his T-shirt. He opened it in his palm and released a Riolu with a red and yellow Focus Band tied around his waist.

"Buh!" Kyle growled eagerly.

"You've got to be kidding me...you're sending THAT little thing against my Hydreigon? It may have type advantage, but it's nothing for my Pokémon."

"You don't know that! Kyle, Bullet Punch!"

"BUH!" Kyle lunged at the large dragon with both fists shining in a red-white light.

"Outrage," Cain commanded simply. Hydreigon's eyes illuminated in the same red aura that enveloped its entire body. The beast bore its fangs out of fuelled anger.

Iara winced and hid her head behind Keenan as Hydreigon unleashed all of its fury on the unprepared Riolu. Hydreigon was abnormally fast and extremely devastating in its attacks; Kyle had no opportunities to retaliate. How could he when he couldn't see where his opponent would strike next? Kyle's blood spilled all over the place as the ferocious Hydreigon struck its victim with its fangs, arms and, occasionally, tail.

_WHACK!_

"BUH!" Hydreigon gave Kyle a tremendous smack in the eye with its tail before the aura faded. The aura around its eyes lingered, and Hydreigon looked around frantically. Kyle lay on the grass, bleeding from almost all over, battered and with a huge bruise on his right eye. Kyle strained to sit up, flinching as he moved.

"K-Kyle, don't move!" Keenan cried. He looked towards Cain with devastation. "How can you put up with this?!"

"Easy," Cain replied simply as he took out a small round green berry from his pocket. "I just think about how weak the victim is." He tossed the berry towards Hydreigon. It miraculously landed in its mouth and ate the berry unknowingly. The glow in its eyes faded and it regained its original composure.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Keenan snapped. "Where did you find that Lum Berry?!"

"Bloody thing's always getting confused after Outrage," Cain complained.

"Duh! Outrage causes fatigue to the user!" Keenan yelled angrily. "It's no different from Thrash or Petal Dance!"

"B-buh..." Kyle managed to sit up, but couldn't move any further. Hydreigon had done a fair amount of damage to one of his legs. Snarling, Kyle held out his arm as a small sphere of aura began to materialise underneath. Keenan watched Kyle before facing Cain worriedly. Iara watched Kyle with fascination.

"Please, you have to stop this! You could kill Kyle if you don't!" he exclaimed.

"That's the idea."

"What..?!"

"One more time, Hydreigon." Hydreigon regained its enraged state as the red aura around its body and eyes returned.

"BUH!"

_BOOM!_

Kyle fired the Aura Sphere straight at Hydreigon's main head, but, in the outraged state it was in, Hydreigon took the hit and took it like it was nothing. Kyle watched in horror as Hydreigon sped towards him, with its teeth ready to strike.

_BANG!_

Kyle, Keenan and Iara looked at Hydreigon in horror; it was fighting to penetrate Ryder's grip; he had each paw on Hydreigon's arms and challenged the main head with his own head, lashing out various bites against it.

"Ryder!"

_Tell me this guy didn't provoke a challenge out of you,_ Ryder growled as he struggled to restrain the behemoth. His feet slipped on the grass, ripping underneath his paws.

"I would, but that would be a lie," Keenan said regretfully.

_Figures. _

"Ryder!" Keenan, Kyle and Iara looked towards Keith and Buizel as they ran onto the scene. Keith instantly stopped when he spotted Cain.

_Never mind him! I'll keep him company for a while. Just get Keenan back home, pronto!_ Ryder yelled as he squinted towards the infuriated Ranger. Keith looked towards Ryder in astonishment.

"What?!" Ryder managed to smile at Keith in spite of the strain he was under.

_C'mon, Keith...I didn't fight fang and claw in the Sinnoh League for the lulz._

"Okay," Keith agreed reluctantly. As Keenan ran to pick up his injured Riolu, Keith and Buizel ran over to him. "C'mon, let's get out of here!"

"But what about-"

_Just tell Alex I'm preoccupied right now,_ Ryder said as he slid back another inch. _GET OUT OF HERE!_

Cain kept his eye on Ryder and Hydreigon's struggle, thereby ignoring Keith escaping with Keenan and Iara. Cain smirked.

"This is going to be satisfying."

_Wanna bet?_ Ryder opened his mouth as wide as he could and a small green flame ignited in the gap.

_BOOM!_

Ryder unleashed the pulsating flames from his mouth, which struck Hydreigon's throat, knocking it back. Hydreigon was airborne and took no collision damage from its environment. Cain raised an eyebrow as he witnessed Ryder's Dragon Pulse.

"Impressive. But it'll take more than that to succumb Hydreigon."

_I never assumed it wouldn't,_ Ryder snarled as he and Hydreigon began to circle one another slowly. _This will be my first proper battle in ages. My apologies if I'm a little rusty,_ he said sarcastically as he crossed his arms in front of him. The spikes on his paws shone and divided to form three metallic claws on each paw.

_Meanwhile..._

Keith and Keenan stopped at the large tree just before Chicole Village to catch their breath. Keenan's shirt, arms and palms was stained with Kyle's blood as he held the wounded Pokémon in his arms. Iara looked back at the path they ran down worriedly.

"Por..."

"He wouldn't have told us to leave him if he couldn't handle Hydreigon," Keenan panted. Keith looked at the boy with concern.

"I'm more worried about what Alexa's going to say when she hears about this," he confessed.

"I'm not; I'm more worried about telling her that Ryder's fighting that Hydreigon," Keenan gulped. "W-we should go; I don't think Kyle can hold on much longer." He and Keith, along with Iara and Buizel, made their way into the village.

Hayden instantly spotted his son as he entered the house with his wounded Pokémon. He quickly took Kyle from Keenan and sat the Riolu on his lap.

"Lily!" he called as he took a squared spray bottle from the briefcase leaning against one of the kitchen table's legs. Kyle winced as Hayden sprayed the medicine onto the bleeding wounds. Lily walked down the stairs. Before she could ask, she instantly spotted Keenan's blood stained attire.

"Keenan? What happened?!"

"Cain happened," Keith answered as he approached Keenan.

"He forced me to fight, I-I didn't have a choice!"

"Typical," Hayden huffed. "Anyone as bloodthirsty as him wouldn't take no for an answer. It was just fortunate the battle stopped when it did."

"Uh...y-yeah, a-about that...uh...R-Ryder's...kinda battling Cain right now," Keith said nervously.

"He's what?!" Hayden asked in horror. Lily turned towards the small grey pigeon Pokémon roosting on the sofa armrest.

"Rick!" the Pidove looked at Lily in confusion. "Find Ryder and keep an eye on him for me please!"

"Pid!" Rick nodded as he took flight. He flew straight out of the open window in front of the kitchen sink. Lily looked towards Keith.

"I'm not taking any chances. I know Ryder's strong, but I don't want to hear about his demise in the papers."

"Nor would Alex," Keenan agreed.

"That reminds me, is she all right?" Keith asked worriedly. Lily shook her head solemnly.

"She hasn't come out of her room all day," she replied. "I don't know if it's because she fell asleep or what...I just know she's still in there at the very least."

"How do you know?" Keith asked, now even more worried than before.

"Layla's told us of her state from time to time," Lily answered. "She's been called in to see Erma tomorrow, but..."

"You're not sure if she's up for it?" Keenan assumed.

"Exactly," Lily confirmed.

"There we are," Hayden smiled as he ceased spraying the last of Kyle's injuries; all of the wounds have stopped bleeding. "Now he just needs to rest and preferably not fight for a while."

"Thanks, dad," Keenan smiled as he looked towards Kyle's improved condition. Keith looked towards Hayden.

"Was Alexa really that bad last night?" he asked with concern.

"You've heard about Lydia, haven't you?" Hayden asked as he lost his smile.

"Y-yeah...Ryder told me everything he knew. He said it wasn't the whole story, though, but he told me everything he knew," Keith explained.

"Let me just say this; I've never known my daughter to have been more depressed than she is right now," Hayden sighed. "It worries me a lot, believe me."

"I know she'll come out of it eventually, but when that'll be is what worries me the most," Lily added. "The longer she's like this the worse it'll be."

"She just needs to stop feeling guilty about what happened and try to set things right with Rhythmi, that's all," Keith said. He tried to sound reassuring, but the tone he used was unconvincing. "Think you can keep an eye on her?"

"I've been doing so all day," Lily sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be offensive," Keith apologised. "I'm just worried about her, that's all."

"No, it's all right. I'm worried about how this whole thing might affect her health," Lily said worriedly. "She hasn't had anything to eat all day. Not to my knowledge anyway."

"That IS worrying," Keith agreed. "Maybe I should go and talk to her?"

"Honey, I've tried and tried to talk to her; she isn't responding," Lily stressed. "She's not even responding to Layla."

"She's bound to talk at some point. Maybe I could try?" Keenan pondered.

"It's worth a shot, I suppose," Lily sighed. "Just be careful about what you say to her. I can only imagine how sensitive she is right now." Keenan and Iara ran up the stairs and out of sight.

"Well, anyway, I should be off; I should let the Union know about what happened," Keith said quietly.

"You can do that from here, can't you?" Hayden questioned. "I don't think it's wise for you to go back to the Union right now. Not without an escort, at least."

"Escort?"

"Your last escort's distracting Cain right now, supposedly."

"Oh yeah," Keith said sheepishly.

"Stick around and have a break," Hayden smiled. "Looks like you need one."

Keenan approached his sister's bedroom door and knocked; no response. Keenan carefully opened the door and made his way inside with Iara. Layla looked at the pair in confusion as Keenan closed the door behind him.

"Nyah?" Keenan merely smiled and winked at the confused Zangoose.

"It's a nice day outside. Iara and I had a lot of fun! Didn't we, girl?" Keenan looked down towards Iara and winked at her. Iara returned the smile and wink.

"Poreon!" she replied merrily.

"The Pokémon out there are super happy today! Maybe they're happy because it was a really nice day! I mean, how could today get any-"

"You can cut it out now, I know what you're trying to do," Alexa said plainly from her bed. Her back was turned against her brother. Keenan and Iara looked at her with concern.

"Come on, sis...don't cut us off. We just want to help you."

"I just need to be alone."

"Keith's been asking about you!"

"I'm not surprised. But does Professor Hastings give a hoot?" Alexa asked snidely.

"Uh..."

"Thought not," Alexa huffed.

"It's hard to tell with him, to be honest. How do you put up with him?"

"No idea," Alexa replied simply. "But I doubt he'd miss me if I don't come back."

"Alex, it's only temporary! And it's not even for discipline, it's-"

"It might as well be a punishment," Alexa sighed. "Erma was right...I've gone too far in attacking Rhythmi like I did...I'll bet Rhythmi will say I'm to blame at tomorrow's meeting..."

"So you HAVE listened to mum?" Keenan asked in puzzlement.

"Just because I didn't communicate with anyone, it doesn't mean I never listened to what was going on." Alexa sat herself up and looked at Keenan; he instantly noticed how drained she looked. "At any rate, I kind of shut myself off from everyone to think about what happened yesterday. I needed all the time I could get."

"Looks like you didn't invest any time in sleeping."

"I didn't, no."

"You stayed up all night?!" Keenan asked in horror.

"Yeah. Haven't eaten anything today either."

"That's just idiotic!" Keenan exclaimed.

"It's appropriate, given I was stupid enough to give Rhythmi a shiner," Alexa shrugged.

"Starving yourself won't solve anything! Come on, you just need to work things out with Rhythmi! Keith thinks so too!"

"Yeah, I know," Alexa sighed. "I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow's meeting, even though I don't really have anything to lose anymore."

"You don't know that..." Alexa sighed and gave a weak smile to her concerned brother.

"You're right, I don't. I'm sorry I worried everyone."

_FWP!_

Keenan suddenly held onto his sister in a cuddle. Alexa held onto Keenan gently and smiled warmly at him.

"I'm just happy that you're back to your old self again," Keenan said happily.

"Yeah...me too. By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. How did you get blood on your shirt?" Keenan's eyes widened in horror; he'd forgotten about the dirtiness of his shirt.

"Uh..."

_To be continued..._


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty Seven – Manhunt**

Professor Hastings and Erma were mutually horrified at what they heard from Keith. Keith took a deep breath and exhaled quietly to calm himself down.  
"And what of the Pokémon Alexa was with?" Hastings asked.  
"Surprisingly, she was fine," Keith replied. "Seemed to me like she had things under control until we arrived."  
"We?"  
"Yeah, Alexa's dad arrived not long after I did," Keith explained.  
"Oh my..."  
"Cain left afterwards, though; Hayden pointed out that Layla had already weakened his other Pokémon, and the only way he could keep fighting was if Seviper fought."  
"I see... I trust Alexa made it back home safely?"  
"Yep," Keith nodded. "Hayden said he'd take her back while I reported what happened to you and Erma."  
"Well, one can't say he's not a dedicated father," Erma smiled.  
"But knowing that Cain's still on the loose is troublesome," Hastings grumbled.  
"True... Keith, dear, can you pay Alexa a visit tomorrow morning? Just to see how she's doing, of course."  
"I was planning to anyway," Keith said casually. "And I want to know how Ryder's doing as well."  
"I'm certain he's recovering just fine," Erma said sweetly. "Now you should rest for the day, Keith; you'll need all the energy you can get after today's adventure."  
"I wouldn't call it an adventure, but, yeah, the next time I see him, he won't get away from me again," Keith said with frustration.  
"We'll catch him; just don't jump the gun," Hastings cautioned.  
"I'll try not to," Keith said quietly.

_The next day..._

Keith and Buizel casually walked into Chicole Village and looked around for Alexa. The duo spotted a beautiful Persian with a pink pearl gem on her forehead laying down on one of the roofs in the village. As they got closer to the house, they spotted Alexa with four other Pokémon outside the house, one of the Pokémon being Layla. The other three Pokémon were a Golduck with a scar on its tail, a Nidoking with a blue scarf on his right forearm and a brown-necked Dodrio with a different coloured collar around each individual neck. The Persian's ears twitched and spotted Keith and Buizel approaching the house. She jumped down from the roof and intercepted the duo.  
"Uh...hello," Keith said nervously. The Persian merely looked up at Keith in silence. The Persian's silence made Keith uneasy and Buizel rather intimidated, despite the Persian's neutral expression. Persian looked back at Alexa.  
"Reow." Persian's meow caught Alexa's attention and she spotted Keith.  
"Hi Keith," she greeted.  
"This Persian yours?" Keith asked. Alexa smiled as she approached the Persian.  
"Yeah, this is Kadia," she explained as she stroked the Persian's head. Kadia purred quietly as Alexa's fingers gently swept across her fur. "Sorry if she startled you."  
"I wouldn't say startled," Keith laughed nervously.  
"So...what brings you here?" Alexa asked. Kadia walked back towards the house. Buizel followed her, but Kadia gracefully leapt back onto the roof and resumed her original position. Alexa's Golduck spotted Buizel and introduced itself to him.  
"Oh, uh, I just wanted to check on you, that's all. I-I mean, after yesterday an' all..."  
"I'm fine," Alexa smiled. "Dad took care of Layla's injuries, so she's all right too."  
"That's good to hear," Keith smiled. His smile was short lived as he sighed.  
"What's wrong?"  
"There was one thing on my mind all last night; 'what if I hadn't arrived when I did'."  
"Oh. I don't know what would've happened, Cain wasn't being totally serious," Alexa shrugged. Keith faced Alexa, wide-eyed.  
"What?"  
"Cain wasn't being totally serious; he was trying to get my guard down. It was just a scare tactic, that's all," Alexa elaborated. "It disturbed me because he practically barged into my personal space." Keith became concerned.  
"Alexa...I'm so sorry..."  
"What for? You haven't done anything."  
"No, I mean...you've been through so much crap since you became a Ranger, and it's not fair on you," Keith explained.  
"So have you," Alexa replied.  
"I know, but...n-no offence, but it seems like trouble has a habit of finding you; Kincaid kidnapping you, you getting suspended..."  
"Water off a Psyduck's back; Kincaid had a reason for kidnapping me and me getting suspended was my own fault."  
"Alexa-"  
"Oh, spare me the pity!" Alexa snapped. "Okay, so Rhythmi jumped to conclusions about my necklace, but I was wrong to retaliate like I did," Alexa sighed as she took out her amulet from underneath her sweatshirt. "I am touchy about Lydia, but...I was wrong to take it out on Rhythmi..."  
"Hey, come on, that was on the same day we found two dead Pokémon, both of which were killed by Cain's Pokémon, one of which WAS Cain's Pokémon! You had a right to be angry," Keith explained.  
"Yes, but I was wrong to take it out on Rhythmi..."  
"Hey, come on, stop being so hard on yourself," Keith said quietly.  
"I know I'm not exactly on the professor's good side...what with me attacking Heath like I did and all..." Keith sighed.  
"Alexa, that was months ago! And it was for my sake!"  
"I don't think he cares about why I did it... I-it's just..." Alexa sighed. "I don't know...maybe I'm just too emotional..."  
"Hey, better to be too emotional than not emotional at all," Keith smiled.  
"I doubt others would agree with that philosophy," Alexa sighed. "I mean, Cyrus pretty much disowned all human emotion as it is..."  
"So he's emo?" Keith questioned, almost jokily. Alexa glared at him.  
"It's not funny!" she scolded. "It's a ridiculous concept, to disown your feelings, but he meant it!" Keith lost his half-hearted smile.  
"Sorry..."  
"It's not your fault... I guess I've been drawing the short straw for several years now..."  
"How do you mean?"  
"Lupin hates me," Alexa replied.  
"Lupin being...?"  
"My Alakazam. While he follows my instructions without question, he blames me for Lydia's death; he and Lydia were very close."  
"Why would he blame you? I mean, you didn't kill her!"  
"He thinks I should've stopped her, but I didn't know she was going to intercept Onix's Iron Tail," Alexa sighed. "Phoenix and I agreed he'd intercept it with his Metal Claw, neither of us saw Lydia jumping into the fray, as it were, until it was too late..."  
"Man..."  
"After the Kanto League, Lupin stopped talking to me, so I left him with my uncle Harvey. His last battle was against Cynthia's Spiritomb, but...he still doesn't talk to me."  
"Have you tried communicating with him after the Sinnoh League?"  
"I tried to, Keith, but Lupin won't listen to me. Phoenix isn't happy with him, to put it kindly. The only thing that's stopping Lupin from challenging Phoenix is the authority Phoenix has over my other Pokémon, like Ryder or Layla, for example."  
"So he's, like, the alpha male?"  
"My Chatot, Skywing calls him the 'clan leader', yeah," Alexa nodded. "And that status was secured after Lydia's death."  
"Christ..."  
"Phoenix refused to let what happened to Lydia happen to anyone else, and became extremely protective of me, hence...hence why he lost all sense of mercy in the Distortion World."  
"Huh? You never mentioned that," Keith said in puzzlement.  
"That detail wasn't relevant compared to everything else I told you at the time. But, yeah, Phoenix looked at me, put two and two together and saw red. He would've slaughtered Cyrus's Gyarados if I hadn't persuaded him to stop after that final Air Slash that knocked out Gyarados."  
"Wow...wasn't too happy at what he pieced together then?"  
"To put it extremely kindly, yeah. Phoenix would go so far as to attack another human if it meant my safety would be assured."  
"So if it was Phoenix who was around when Cain ambushed you yesterday...then...?"  
"Yes, Cain would've felt Phoenix's wrath personally," Alexa nodded. Keith smiled slightly.  
"That would've been pretty damn cool."  
"He would've gone for Cyrus too if I hadn't returned him to his Poké Ball; between them, Kayla, my Luxray, and Ryder defeated Giratina to calm him down."  
"Hang on a sec, you've said his name numerous times now and you haven't quivered in fear once," Keith said suddenly.  
"I guess...I guess I'm not scared of him any more," Alexa explained. "That's the only thing I can think of to explain it."  
"Oh."  
"But that doesn't mean I'm not scared of what actually took place. Besides, hate the sin and not the sinner. Deep down, Cyrus was just lonely and unnoticed. Even though he pretty much made a big song and dance about his plans..."  
"I never really understood what compelled you to confront him in the first place," Keith admitted. "No offence, of course."  
"None taken. And it wasn't personal."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Let's just say that if Sinnoh's police force did what they were actually being paid to do rather than stand around hailing down Pokémon trainers for battles, I wouldn't have gone through what I went through."  
"Good grief..."  
"Yeah...if my dad found out about that, he'd have gone through the roof; he hates gross incompetence more than anything."  
"Why?"  
"Too much of it at work," Alexa said nervously. "Mostly in the Solaceon Town store, actually..." Keith smiled sweetly.  
"Well...as long as you're on the mend, that's a load off of my mind." Alexa smiled kindly at Keith.  
"Yeah, I think the time I'm spending with this suspension will help me to keep a lid on my temper and my other emotions as well."  
"But if being emotional is part of who you are, why change it?"  
"Uh...never thought of that," Alexa admitted.

"Oh, before I forget, how's Ryder?" Keith asked. Alexa sighed.  
"He's inside battling with Mum's Meganium, Chelsea."  
"Battling? Should he be battling?"  
"Wrong context; Ryder wants to go out and find Cain for what he did to me and Layla, but Chelsea's insisting that he stays put," Alexa explained.  
"Oh. Well, I'll look for Cain in his place, so he can rest easy if you run it by him."  
"Can I suggest that one of my Pokémon goes with you? The last thing I want is for Buizel to get hurt again, and Ryder's in no state to go on a manhunt."  
"Who would you recommend?" Keith asked.  
"Whoever's willing to go with you."

_Poke._

Alexa turned around and spotted her Dodrio smiling at her. Keith spotted the three-headed Pokémon.  
"Who's that?"  
"This is Ellie-May-Jan," Alexa said. "Each of her heads has her own name; Ellie, May and Jan," she explained, indicating the three collars around her necks.  
"Is she competent?" Keith asked. The head with the blue collar around her neck, Ellie, glared at Keith angrily.  
"Ellie..!" Alexa smiled at Keith. "Sorry, she's the angry one. But, yeah, Ellie-May-Jan is an experienced battler and she's good at carrying riders on her back."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, I rode on her back a lot before Phoenix evolved into Charizard. By the way, don't mind May so much, she's the worrywart of the three," Alexa said nervously.  
"I won't worry. But will she be okay with me?" All three heads smiled and nodded towards Keith.  
"She's volunteering, after all," Alexa laughed. Ellie-May-Jan approached Keith from behind, and, using all three of her heads, lifted the startled boy onto her back. Alexa laughed as Buizel struggled to climb onto the Dodrio's back. Jan helped the panicky Buizel up and he managed to reach Keith safely. "And she's pretty eager."  
"There's room for one more if you want to come with," Keith smiled. Alexa's smile weakned as she shook her head.  
"I'd better not; my emotional health is pretty unstable as it is, Cain would only make it worse. No, you go on ahead and I'll try some yoga or something."  
"If you say so," Keith said as he lost his smile. However, he quickly regained his lost smile. "I'll check up on you later, okay?"  
"If you want," Alexa smiled. Ellie-May-Jan turned around, ready to run out of the village.  
"Laters!" Keith called as the Dodrio sped out of the village. As soon as Keith disappeared from sight, Alexa returned to the house.

_Look, I'm fine, okay?!_ Ryder argued as he struggled with the vines of a red-eyed female Meganium, who seemed frustrated with the recovering Lucario.  
"Ganium!"  
_I don't need to rest!_  
"Yes you do," Alexa sighed. Ryder and the Meganium looked back at Alexa as she approached them. "Dad's orders, remember? You're still healing. That Hydreigon did a hefty amount of damage to you, and the last thing I want is for you to get worse."  
_But Alex-_  
"I know you want to see Cain pay for what he's done, but he will eventually."  
_I don't want him to pay eventually, I want him to pay now!_  
"Well we'll need to find him first," Alexa said quietly. "Anyway, you listen to Chelsea, you need bed rest right now."  
_I guess you're right..._  
"Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be in my room trying to prevent my sanity from breaking apart," Alexa said as she walked up the stairs.

Keith had spent the entire day riding around Almia on Alexa's athletic Dodrio, on the lookout for any sign of Cain, but to no avail; it had seemed that the cold-hearted Pokémon trainer had disappeared without a trace. The only times when Keith stopped was when he arrived at certain locations; locations where he had encountered the ruthless boy and some of his Pokémon mob. He spent most of his free time reflecting on the Pokémon Cain had slaughtered; Salamence and Medicham. Salamence was a family Pokémon, with a mate and three babies, while Medicham was Cain's own Pokémon. Just thinking about their deaths almost made Keith cry; neither Pokémon deserved their horrific fates.

It was almost sunset when Ellie-May-Jan ran steadily through Puel Town, with a very silent Keith and Buizel riding on her back. Buizel looked depressed, but Keith and Ellie shared the same annoyed demeanour; while Keith was annoyed that he hadn't found a single trace of where Cain was hiding or had been, Ellie was annoyed with May and Jan's 'girly' talk. Ellie thought Keith to be fortunate for not being able to understand May and Jan.

"Okay, stop here," Keith said quietly. All three heads responded and Ellie-May-Jan stopped in her tracks; they found themselves just outside Puel Town, near the Vien Forest. Keith and Buizel dismounted from Ellie-May-Jan's back. "Take a rest, girl, you've earned it." Ellie-May-Jan smiled at Keith with gratitude as she approached the nearby river to take a well-earned drink. Buizel lay down on the river bank and took a little nap. Keith leaned against the nearest tree and breathed deeply to clear his head.

"Hey, Keith!" Keith looked over at Barlow, who was approaching him with Makuhita at his side. Keith smiled a little.  
"S'up, Barlow? How're you doing?" he asked. Barlow groaned under his breath while Makuhita walked over to the river.  
"No sign of him anywhere."  
"Snap," Keith sighed. "I must've checked anywhere and everywhere about three times each, and still no sign of Cain each time." Barlow noticed Ellie-May-Jan by the river.  
"Hey, where did you get the Dodrio?"  
"Oh, she's one of Alexa's Pokémon," Keith explained. "She's how I've been here, there and everywhere three times today. She's accompanying me in Ryder's absence."  
"How are they?" Barlow asked.  
"Alexa says Ryder's fine, despite arguing with her mom's Meganium. But there's something she said that has me concerned."  
"What's that then?" Barlow asked with interest.  
"She said something about her emotional health being unstable," Keith explained.  
"Ah, I guess she's referring to her mental health," Barlow said quietly.  
"Huh?!"  
"No need to panic, Keith. Did she say anything along with that?"  
"Uh...only that Cain would only make it worse and she'd try...yoga or something."  
"Ah, well, at least she's on top of it," Barlow smiled.  
"I should've known she'd have an episode...if I noticed it sooner, I could've stopped her from hurting Rhythmi," Keith sighed.  
"Hey, she said she could handle the investigation, and we believed her," Barlow said, with a look of concern on his face. "If her mental health was becoming unbalanced, it wasn't obvious."  
"But now she's suspended from her duties because of-"  
"Keith, don't blame yourself for this!" Barlow said abruptly.  
"...I was going to say Cain," Keith said quietly.  
"Oh. Well, can't say I'm surprised that you blame him; it wasn't right for her to see what she saw that day," Barlow stated. Keith nodded in whole-hearted agreement.  
"I take it you know why Alexa was suspended?"  
"Something about a necklace, yeah," Barlow answered.  
"I think Rhythmi was unintentionally adding salt into the wound; I really don't think she meant what she said, but I'm not entirely sure. But I just hope Alexa's gonna be okay..."  
"We've established that she's on top of her unstable mental health, so I'm sure she'll be her normal self again once she's done something to stabilise it again."  
"Yeah..."  
"Besides, she's got a lot of support around her, so she'll recover in no time," Barlow smiled. Keith returned the smile.  
"Yeah." Barlow looked up at the sky; the sun was close to setting, giving the sky a beautiful orange-red glow.  
"It's getting late." He looked back at Keith. "I'm on my way to the Ranger Union to report today's findings. Or lack thereof anyway. I think you should stay with Alexa again tonight."  
"I-I was going to check up on her tonight, but I don't know about staying over," Keith said nervously.  
"You need to return her Dodrio anyway, so why not?" Barlow asked teasingly. Keith laughed nervously.  
"That's true, I guess...I just don't want to make a habit out of bunking at her place, that's all," he explained.  
"Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you to the Professor."  
"Speaking of which," Keith said suddenly. "Alexa said she doesn't think she's on his good side. Can you ask him if that's the case?" Barlow looked at Keith in confusion.  
"Uh...yeah, okay, I don't see the harm in it," he agreed. "I'll get back to you on that tomorrow."  
"Thanks, Barlow," Keith smiled. "I don't know whether he's giving her tough love or whether he just plain doesn't like her like he used to."  
"Yeah, that line's pretty fine," Barlow agreed. "Now you'd best be going; I have a hunch that Cain's become nocturnal for the sake of not being caught."  
"I don't even know if he sleeps," Keith muttered as he walked over to Ellie-May-Jan, who had finished her drink and was ready for Keith to mount her again. Buizel hopped onto Keith's shoulder before he made his way onto Ellie-May-Jan's back.  
"Wouldn't surprise me if he's an insomniac," Barlow chuckled. "But in all seriousness, I'll be patrolling tonight, and my guard needs to be up."  
"Can't the professor get Sven or Wendy to help?" Keith asked in frustration.  
"I volunteered; the last thing I want is for Crawford's Budew to suffer like Luana's Buneary had," Barlow clarified. "And don't worry; I won't be alone," he added, winking at Keith. "Now get goin', kiddo."  
"See ya, Barlow," Keith said as Ellie-May-Jan began to jog into the forest. Barlow and Makuhita made their way into Puel Town, jogging as they went.

Barlow arrived at the Ranger Union fairly quickly. Despite their large builds, neither Barlow nor Makuhita were exhausted from the jogging they did en route. They walked over to Professor Hastings, who was keeping an eye on things on the ground floor of the union. Hastings spotted Barlow as he approached.  
"Hello, Barlow. What can I do for you?" he asked politely.  
"Just thought you should know; I started patrolling and keeping an eye on any sign of Cain. Not a trace," Barlow explained. "Keith spent the entire day looking for the boy, but he found nothing either."  
"Hmmm...Cain's proving himself to be very elusive," Hastings muttered to himself. "Are you sure you're comfortable in patrolling tonight? Chances are Cain's just waiting for nightfall to come out of hiding."  
"I'm good; I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't," Barlow said confidently.  
"True."  
"Before I forget, Professor, Keith wanted me to ask you something."  
"Oh?"  
"He said Alexa told him she doesn't think she's on your good side. Keith wants to know if that's true or not." Hastings let out a deep sigh as he began to slowly pace around.  
"He doesn't think I like her, does he?"  
"That's what he assumed anyway," Barlow answered.  
"Barlow, I'm an old man; I find it rather difficult understanding the minds of the youth. But, I'll be honest, I don't believe Alexa's performance hasn't exactly been sublime as of late."  
"But that's not exactly a good reason to hate her."  
"I never said anything of the sort, Barlow. I just think she needs to pull her act together. Hopefully she'll learn to do just that during her suspension."  
"Keith's kind of blaming himself for not noticing Alexa's fragile state of mind since she came back from Oblivia," Barlow added. "He believes that if he had, he could've stopped her from attackin' Rythmi. I take it nobody else here noticed it either?"  
"Alexa has become fairly distracted as of late, and I certainly can't fathom where she got her recklessness from. If that girl's not careful, she could get hurt again, or worse still; end up dead."  
"Oh come on, Professor, Alexa knows better than that!"  
"Let's hope that's the case. Alexa's a good Top Ranger, but recent events have seriously hindered her skills."  
"And her mental health, from what Keith told me." Barlow added. Hastings raised an eyebrow with intrigue.

Ellie-May-Jan slowed down as she approached Alexa's Chicole residence and allowed Keith to dismount her. Keith and Ellie-May-Jan walked to the front door, only for Chelsea, the red-eyed Meganium to answer it before Keith could even knock.  
"Ganium!" Chelsea greeted, moving away from the door to allow Keith and Ellie-May-Jan to enter. Keith spotted Ryder on the sofa; while he looked extremely comfortable with a pillow behind his head and a blanket keeping him warm, Ryder was pouting.  
"Hey, Ryder."  
_She's upstairs,_ Ryder said plainly.  
"What's gotten your tail in a knot?" Keith asked.  
_Chelsea's vines, almost,_ Ryder huffed.  
"It was a rhetorical question," Keith sighed.  
"Reow." Keith spotted a familiar Persian at the foot of the staircase, smiling sweetly at him.  
_Everyone else is having a little rest, so try not to be too loud if you can help it,_ Ryder added.  
"Speaking of which, get some yourself, mister," Keith laughed as he followed Kadia up the stairs. Ryder silently mimicked Keith's somewhat patronising words to himself in frustration. Ryder huffed as he lay on the sofa. Chelsea turned off the lights and lay down in her basket, next to the sleeping Tidus, comfortable in his own basket. Chelsea sighed contently as she drifted off to sleep. After Ellie-May-Jan happily returned to the solitude of her Poké Ball, Ryder grinned sinisterly.

Keith quietly entered Alexa's bedroom. He found her sitting in the middle of the floor in her lilac pyjamas, with the soles of her feet touching one another and her hands gently placed in front of her. Alexa had one eye open and was smiling at him, as if she'd anticipated his arrival.  
"Hi, Keith."  
"What're you doing now?" he asked as Alexa stood up.  
"I thought I'd try a bit of meditation before bed. Good thing you arrived when you did; I almost fell asleep," she laughed sheepishly. Keith smiled as he walked over to her. He gently placed his hand on her cheek.  
"How're you feeling?" he asked softly. Kadia's ears twitched and she exited the room curiously.  
"Better. For now, at least," Alexa replied quietly.

Kadia walked silently down the stairs and looked around the ground floor of the house. When she spotted the sofa where Ryder was resting, she was horrified to discover the significant lack of recovering Lucario. She noticed that the front door of the house wasn't quite closed; she came to the immediate conclusion that the faint sound she picked up was Ryder sneaking out of the house!

"So Barlow said you should stay the night again, huh?" Alexa asked as she held Keith's hands softly.  
"It's not that I didn't like the idea; I just don't really want to make crashing here a bad habit."  
"Don't be silly, my parents adore you," Alexa smiled. "As do I." Keith smiled sweetly, though he was blushing from nervousness.  
"After what I saw from your dad yesterday, I wasn't sure if he'd be happy about me staying here."  
"He trusts you, Keith."  
Kadia returned to the bedroom and jumped up on Alexa, resting her paws on her arms. Alexa immediately noticed how panicky she looked.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Reow! Re~ow!"  
"Oh no...!" Alexa released Keith's hands and followed Kadia down the stairs. Keith, confused, followed her.

By the time Keith arrived on the ground floor, he instantly understood why Kadia and Alexa were panicky and followed them outside.

Alexa and Kadia looked around the village, but they couldn't see Ryder anywhere. Keith and Buizel caught up to the girls.  
"He must've gone after Cain! Urgh, that pup's gonna get himself killed at this rate!" Alexa said frantically. She began to run off, but Keith managed to hold onto her hand and stop her before she got too far. She looked back at him in shock.  
"Alexa-"  
"But I-" Keith raised an eyebrow. Alexa sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I said I should stay away from Cain, so I should. It's for my own good."  
"...well, that and you're still in your PJ's."  
"Huh?!" Alexa looked at her nighttime attire. "Oh..." She looked at Keith, smiling and blushing sheepishly. "Whoops."  
"Don't worry, I'll look for him."  
"B-but what about-"  
"I know about Cain. But if I can find Barlow and explain the situation, he and I can look for Ryder together," Keith explained. Alexa appeared hesitant, but, after a small pause, she sighed.  
"Okay...on one condition."  
"Anything."  
"Take Kadia with you; she knows Flash, so she can help you see in the dark, and her hearing is extremely sharp. She can hear things we couldn't, so she might also help you find Barlow and even Ryder."  
"Okay, deal," Keith smiled.  
"I trust her battling skills too, but...please be careful..." Alexa looked down at Kadia. "Both of you."  
"Reow," Kadia nodded with compliance. Keith looked at Buizel.  
"You stay here, buddy, okay?"  
"Bui!" Buizel nodded as he leapt towards Alexa. She caught him and held him in her arms, almost like a teddy bear being cuddled by a little kid.  
"I'll be careful. I promise," Keith said sincerely. He quickly, yet gently, pecked a kiss on Alexa's lips before he and Kadia sped off out of the village, beginning the search for Ryder. Preferably before Cain finds him.

_To be continued..._


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty Seven – Manhunt**

Professor Hastings and Erma were mutually horrified at what they heard from Keith. Keith took a deep breath and exhaled quietly to calm himself down.  
"And what of the Pokémon Alexa was with?" Hastings asked.  
"Surprisingly, she was fine," Keith replied. "Seemed to me like she had things under control until we arrived."  
"We?"  
"Yeah, Alexa's dad arrived not long after I did," Keith explained.  
"Oh my..."  
"Cain left afterwards, though; Hayden pointed out that Layla had already weakened his other Pokémon, and the only way he could keep fighting was if Seviper fought."  
"I see... I trust Alexa made it back home safely?"  
"Yep," Keith nodded. "Hayden said he'd take her back while I reported what happened to you and Erma."  
"Well, one can't say he's not a dedicated father," Erma smiled.  
"But knowing that Cain's still on the loose is troublesome," Hastings grumbled.  
"True... Keith, dear, can you pay Alexa a visit tomorrow morning? Just to see how she's doing, of course."  
"I was planning to anyway," Keith said casually. "And I want to know how Ryder's doing as well."  
"I'm certain he's recovering just fine," Erma said sweetly. "Now you should rest for the day, Keith; you'll need all the energy you can get after today's adventure."  
"I wouldn't call it an adventure, but, yeah, the next time I see him, he won't get away from me again," Keith said with frustration.  
"We'll catch him; just don't jump the gun," Hastings cautioned.  
"I'll try not to," Keith said quietly.

_The next day..._

Keith and Buizel casually walked into Chicole Village and looked around for Alexa. The duo spotted a beautiful Persian with a pink pearl gem on her forehead laying down on one of the roofs in the village. As they got closer to the house, they spotted Alexa with four other Pokémon outside the house, one of the Pokémon being Layla. The other three Pokémon were a Golduck with a scar on its tail, a Nidoking with a blue scarf on his right forearm and a brown-necked Dodrio with a different coloured collar around each individual neck. The Persian's ears twitched and spotted Keith and Buizel approaching the house. She jumped down from the roof and intercepted the duo.  
"Uh...hello," Keith said nervously. The Persian merely looked up at Keith in silence. The Persian's silence made Keith uneasy and Buizel rather intimidated, despite the Persian's neutral expression. Persian looked back at Alexa.  
"Reow." Persian's meow caught Alexa's attention and she spotted Keith.  
"Hi Keith," she greeted.  
"This Persian yours?" Keith asked. Alexa smiled as she approached the Persian.  
"Yeah, this is Kadia," she explained as she stroked the Persian's head. Kadia purred quietly as Alexa's fingers gently swept across her fur. "Sorry if she startled you."  
"I wouldn't say startled," Keith laughed nervously.  
"So...what brings you here?" Alexa asked. Kadia walked back towards the house. Buizel followed her, but Kadia gracefully leapt back onto the roof and resumed her original position. Alexa's Golduck spotted Buizel and introduced itself to him.  
"Oh, uh, I just wanted to check on you, that's all. I-I mean, after yesterday an' all..."  
"I'm fine," Alexa smiled. "Dad took care of Layla's injuries, so she's all right too."  
"That's good to hear," Keith smiled. His smile was short lived as he sighed.  
"What's wrong?"  
"There was one thing on my mind all last night; 'what if I hadn't arrived when I did'."  
"Oh. I don't know what would've happened, Cain wasn't being totally serious," Alexa shrugged. Keith faced Alexa, wide-eyed.  
"What?"  
"Cain wasn't being totally serious; he was trying to get my guard down. It was just a scare tactic, that's all," Alexa elaborated. "It disturbed me because he practically barged into my personal space." Keith became concerned.  
"Alexa...I'm so sorry..."  
"What for? You haven't done anything."  
"No, I mean...you've been through so much crap since you became a Ranger, and it's not fair on you," Keith explained.  
"So have you," Alexa replied.  
"I know, but...n-no offence, but it seems like trouble has a habit of finding you; Kincaid kidnapping you, you getting suspended..."  
"Water off a Psyduck's back; Kincaid had a reason for kidnapping me and me getting suspended was my own fault."  
"Alexa-"  
"Oh, spare me the pity!" Alexa snapped. "Okay, so Rhythmi jumped to conclusions about my necklace, but I was wrong to retaliate like I did," Alexa sighed as she took out her amulet from underneath her sweatshirt. "I am touchy about Lydia, but...I was wrong to take it out on Rhythmi..."  
"Hey, come on, that was on the same day we found two dead Pokémon, both of which were killed by Cain's Pokémon, one of which WAS Cain's Pokémon! You had a right to be angry," Keith explained.  
"Yes, but I was wrong to take it out on Rhythmi..."  
"Hey, come on, stop being so hard on yourself," Keith said quietly.  
"I know I'm not exactly on the professor's good side...what with me attacking Heath like I did and all..." Keith sighed.  
"Alexa, that was months ago! And it was for my sake!"  
"I don't think he cares about why I did it... I-it's just..." Alexa sighed. "I don't know...maybe I'm just too emotional..."  
"Hey, better to be too emotional than not emotional at all," Keith smiled.  
"I doubt others would agree with that philosophy," Alexa sighed. "I mean, Cyrus pretty much disowned all human emotion as it is..."  
"So he's emo?" Keith questioned, almost jokily. Alexa glared at him.  
"It's not funny!" she scolded. "It's a ridiculous concept, to disown your feelings, but he meant it!" Keith lost his half-hearted smile.  
"Sorry..."  
"It's not your fault... I guess I've been drawing the short straw for several years now..."  
"How do you mean?"  
"Lupin hates me," Alexa replied.  
"Lupin being...?"  
"My Alakazam. While he follows my instructions without question, he blames me for Lydia's death; he and Lydia were very close."  
"Why would he blame you? I mean, you didn't kill her!"  
"He thinks I should've stopped her, but I didn't know she was going to intercept Onix's Iron Tail," Alexa sighed. "Phoenix and I agreed he'd intercept it with his Metal Claw, neither of us saw Lydia jumping into the fray, as it were, until it was too late..."  
"Man..."  
"After the Kanto League, Lupin stopped talking to me, so I left him with my uncle Harvey. His last battle was against Cynthia's Spiritomb, but...he still doesn't talk to me."  
"Have you tried communicating with him after the Sinnoh League?"  
"I tried to, Keith, but Lupin won't listen to me. Phoenix isn't happy with him, to put it kindly. The only thing that's stopping Lupin from challenging Phoenix is the authority Phoenix has over my other Pokémon, like Ryder or Layla, for example."  
"So he's, like, the alpha male?"  
"My Chatot, Skywing calls him the 'clan leader', yeah," Alexa nodded. "And that status was secured after Lydia's death."  
"Christ..."  
"Phoenix refused to let what happened to Lydia happen to anyone else, and became extremely protective of me, hence...hence why he lost all sense of mercy in the Distortion World."  
"Huh? You never mentioned that," Keith said in puzzlement.  
"That detail wasn't relevant compared to everything else I told you at the time. But, yeah, Phoenix looked at me, put two and two together and saw red. He would've slaughtered Cyrus's Gyarados if I hadn't persuaded him to stop after that final Air Slash that knocked out Gyarados."  
"Wow...wasn't too happy at what he pieced together then?"  
"To put it extremely kindly, yeah. Phoenix would go so far as to attack another human if it meant my safety would be assured."  
"So if it was Phoenix who was around when Cain ambushed you yesterday...then...?"  
"Yes, Cain would've felt Phoenix's wrath personally," Alexa nodded. Keith smiled slightly.  
"That would've been pretty damn cool."  
"He would've gone for Cyrus too if I hadn't returned him to his Poké Ball; between them, Kayla, my Luxray, and Ryder defeated Giratina to calm him down."  
"Hang on a sec, you've said his name numerous times now and you haven't quivered in fear once," Keith said suddenly.  
"I guess...I guess I'm not scared of him any more," Alexa explained. "That's the only thing I can think of to explain it."  
"Oh."  
"But that doesn't mean I'm not scared of what actually took place. Besides, hate the sin and not the sinner. Deep down, Cyrus was just lonely and unnoticed. Even though he pretty much made a big song and dance about his plans..."  
"I never really understood what compelled you to confront him in the first place," Keith admitted. "No offence, of course."  
"None taken. And it wasn't personal."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Let's just say that if Sinnoh's police force did what they were actually being paid to do rather than stand around hailing down Pokémon trainers for battles, I wouldn't have gone through what I went through."  
"Good grief..."  
"Yeah...if my dad found out about that, he'd have gone through the roof; he hates gross incompetence more than anything."  
"Why?"  
"Too much of it at work," Alexa said nervously. "Mostly in the Solaceon Town store, actually..." Keith smiled sweetly.  
"Well...as long as you're on the mend, that's a load off of my mind." Alexa smiled kindly at Keith.  
"Yeah, I think the time I'm spending with this suspension will help me to keep a lid on my temper and my other emotions as well."  
"But if being emotional is part of who you are, why change it?"  
"Uh...never thought of that," Alexa admitted.

"Oh, before I forget, how's Ryder?" Keith asked. Alexa sighed.  
"He's inside battling with Mum's Meganium, Chelsea."  
"Battling? Should he be battling?"  
"Wrong context; Ryder wants to go out and find Cain for what he did to me and Layla, but Chelsea's insisting that he stays put," Alexa explained.  
"Oh. Well, I'll look for Cain in his place, so he can rest easy if you run it by him."  
"Can I suggest that one of my Pokémon goes with you? The last thing I want is for Buizel to get hurt again, and Ryder's in no state to go on a manhunt."  
"Who would you recommend?" Keith asked.  
"Whoever's willing to go with you."

_Poke._

Alexa turned around and spotted her Dodrio smiling at her. Keith spotted the three-headed Pokémon.  
"Who's that?"  
"This is Ellie-May-Jan," Alexa said. "Each of her heads has her own name; Ellie, May and Jan," she explained, indicating the three collars around her necks.  
"Is she competent?" Keith asked. The head with the blue collar around her neck, Ellie, glared at Keith angrily.  
"Ellie..!" Alexa smiled at Keith. "Sorry, she's the angry one. But, yeah, Ellie-May-Jan is an experienced battler and she's good at carrying riders on her back."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, I rode on her back a lot before Phoenix evolved into Charizard. By the way, don't mind May so much, she's the worrywart of the three," Alexa said nervously.  
"I won't worry. But will she be okay with me?" All three heads smiled and nodded towards Keith.  
"She's volunteering, after all," Alexa laughed. Ellie-May-Jan approached Keith from behind, and, using all three of her heads, lifted the startled boy onto her back. Alexa laughed as Buizel struggled to climb onto the Dodrio's back. Jan helped the panicky Buizel up and he managed to reach Keith safely. "And she's pretty eager."  
"There's room for one more if you want to come with," Keith smiled. Alexa's smile weakned as she shook her head.  
"I'd better not; my emotional health is pretty unstable as it is, Cain would only make it worse. No, you go on ahead and I'll try some yoga or something."  
"If you say so," Keith said as he lost his smile. However, he quickly regained his lost smile. "I'll check up on you later, okay?"  
"If you want," Alexa smiled. Ellie-May-Jan turned around, ready to run out of the village.  
"Laters!" Keith called as the Dodrio sped out of the village. As soon as Keith disappeared from sight, Alexa returned to the house.

_Look, I'm fine, okay?!_ Ryder argued as he struggled with the vines of a red-eyed female Meganium, who seemed frustrated with the recovering Lucario.  
"Ganium!"  
_I don't need to rest!_  
"Yes you do," Alexa sighed. Ryder and the Meganium looked back at Alexa as she approached them. "Dad's orders, remember? You're still healing. That Hydreigon did a hefty amount of damage to you, and the last thing I want is for you to get worse."  
_But Alex-_  
"I know you want to see Cain pay for what he's done, but he will eventually."  
_I don't want him to pay eventually, I want him to pay now!_  
"Well we'll need to find him first," Alexa said quietly. "Anyway, you listen to Chelsea, you need bed rest right now."  
_I guess you're right..._  
"Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be in my room trying to prevent my sanity from breaking apart," Alexa said as she walked up the stairs.

Keith had spent the entire day riding around Almia on Alexa's athletic Dodrio, on the lookout for any sign of Cain, but to no avail; it had seemed that the cold-hearted Pokémon trainer had disappeared without a trace. The only times when Keith stopped was when he arrived at certain locations; locations where he had encountered the ruthless boy and some of his Pokémon mob. He spent most of his free time reflecting on the Pokémon Cain had slaughtered; Salamence and Medicham. Salamence was a family Pokémon, with a mate and three babies, while Medicham was Cain's own Pokémon. Just thinking about their deaths almost made Keith cry; neither Pokémon deserved their horrific fates.

It was almost sunset when Ellie-May-Jan ran steadily through Puel Town, with a very silent Keith and Buizel riding on her back. Buizel looked depressed, but Keith and Ellie shared the same annoyed demeanour; while Keith was annoyed that he hadn't found a single trace of where Cain was hiding or had been, Ellie was annoyed with May and Jan's 'girly' talk. Ellie thought Keith to be fortunate for not being able to understand May and Jan.

"Okay, stop here," Keith said quietly. All three heads responded and Ellie-May-Jan stopped in her tracks; they found themselves just outside Puel Town, near the Vien Forest. Keith and Buizel dismounted from Ellie-May-Jan's back. "Take a rest, girl, you've earned it." Ellie-May-Jan smiled at Keith with gratitude as she approached the nearby river to take a well-earned drink. Buizel lay down on the river bank and took a little nap. Keith leaned against the nearest tree and breathed deeply to clear his head.

"Hey, Keith!" Keith looked over at Barlow, who was approaching him with Makuhita at his side. Keith smiled a little.  
"S'up, Barlow? How're you doing?" he asked. Barlow groaned under his breath while Makuhita walked over to the river.  
"No sign of him anywhere."  
"Snap," Keith sighed. "I must've checked anywhere and everywhere about three times each, and still no sign of Cain each time." Barlow noticed Ellie-May-Jan by the river.  
"Hey, where did you get the Dodrio?"  
"Oh, she's one of Alexa's Pokémon," Keith explained. "She's how I've been here, there and everywhere three times today. She's accompanying me in Ryder's absence."  
"How are they?" Barlow asked.  
"Alexa says Ryder's fine, despite arguing with her mom's Meganium. But there's something she said that has me concerned."  
"What's that then?" Barlow asked with interest.  
"She said something about her emotional health being unstable," Keith explained.  
"Ah, I guess she's referring to her mental health," Barlow said quietly.  
"Huh?!"  
"No need to panic, Keith. Did she say anything along with that?"  
"Uh...only that Cain would only make it worse and she'd try...yoga or something."  
"Ah, well, at least she's on top of it," Barlow smiled.  
"I should've known she'd have an episode...if I noticed it sooner, I could've stopped her from hurting Rhythmi," Keith sighed.  
"Hey, she said she could handle the investigation, and we believed her," Barlow said, with a look of concern on his face. "If her mental health was becoming unbalanced, it wasn't obvious."  
"But now she's suspended from her duties because of-"  
"Keith, don't blame yourself for this!" Barlow said abruptly.  
"...I was going to say Cain," Keith said quietly.  
"Oh. Well, can't say I'm surprised that you blame him; it wasn't right for her to see what she saw that day," Barlow stated. Keith nodded in whole-hearted agreement.  
"I take it you know why Alexa was suspended?"  
"Something about a necklace, yeah," Barlow answered.  
"I think Rhythmi was unintentionally adding salt into the wound; I really don't think she meant what she said, but I'm not entirely sure. But I just hope Alexa's gonna be okay..."  
"We've established that she's on top of her unstable mental health, so I'm sure she'll be her normal self again once she's done something to stabilise it again."  
"Yeah..."  
"Besides, she's got a lot of support around her, so she'll recover in no time," Barlow smiled. Keith returned the smile.  
"Yeah." Barlow looked up at the sky; the sun was close to setting, giving the sky a beautiful orange-red glow.  
"It's getting late." He looked back at Keith. "I'm on my way to the Ranger Union to report today's findings. Or lack thereof anyway. I think you should stay with Alexa again tonight."  
"I-I was going to check up on her tonight, but I don't know about staying over," Keith said nervously.  
"You need to return her Dodrio anyway, so why not?" Barlow asked teasingly. Keith laughed nervously.  
"That's true, I guess...I just don't want to make a habit out of bunking at her place, that's all," he explained.  
"Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you to the Professor."  
"Speaking of which," Keith said suddenly. "Alexa said she doesn't think she's on his good side. Can you ask him if that's the case?" Barlow looked at Keith in confusion.  
"Uh...yeah, okay, I don't see the harm in it," he agreed. "I'll get back to you on that tomorrow."  
"Thanks, Barlow," Keith smiled. "I don't know whether he's giving her tough love or whether he just plain doesn't like her like he used to."  
"Yeah, that line's pretty fine," Barlow agreed. "Now you'd best be going; I have a hunch that Cain's become nocturnal for the sake of not being caught."  
"I don't even know if he sleeps," Keith muttered as he walked over to Ellie-May-Jan, who had finished her drink and was ready for Keith to mount her again. Buizel hopped onto Keith's shoulder before he made his way onto Ellie-May-Jan's back.  
"Wouldn't surprise me if he's an insomniac," Barlow chuckled. "But in all seriousness, I'll be patrolling tonight, and my guard needs to be up."  
"Can't the professor get Sven or Wendy to help?" Keith asked in frustration.  
"I volunteered; the last thing I want is for Crawford's Budew to suffer like Luana's Buneary had," Barlow clarified. "And don't worry; I won't be alone," he added, winking at Keith. "Now get goin', kiddo."  
"See ya, Barlow," Keith said as Ellie-May-Jan began to jog into the forest. Barlow and Makuhita made their way into Puel Town, jogging as they went.

Barlow arrived at the Ranger Union fairly quickly. Despite their large builds, neither Barlow nor Makuhita were exhausted from the jogging they did en route. They walked over to Professor Hastings, who was keeping an eye on things on the ground floor of the union. Hastings spotted Barlow as he approached.  
"Hello, Barlow. What can I do for you?" he asked politely.  
"Just thought you should know; I started patrolling and keeping an eye on any sign of Cain. Not a trace," Barlow explained. "Keith spent the entire day looking for the boy, but he found nothing either."  
"Hmmm...Cain's proving himself to be very elusive," Hastings muttered to himself. "Are you sure you're comfortable in patrolling tonight? Chances are Cain's just waiting for nightfall to come out of hiding."  
"I'm good; I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't," Barlow said confidently.  
"True."  
"Before I forget, Professor, Keith wanted me to ask you something."  
"Oh?"  
"He said Alexa told him she doesn't think she's on your good side. Keith wants to know if that's true or not." Hastings let out a deep sigh as he began to slowly pace around.  
"He doesn't think I like her, does he?"  
"That's what he assumed anyway," Barlow answered.  
"Barlow, I'm an old man; I find it rather difficult understanding the minds of the youth. But, I'll be honest, I don't believe Alexa's performance hasn't exactly been sublime as of late."  
"But that's not exactly a good reason to hate her."  
"I never said anything of the sort, Barlow. I just think she needs to pull her act together. Hopefully she'll learn to do just that during her suspension."  
"Keith's kind of blaming himself for not noticing Alexa's fragile state of mind since she came back from Oblivia," Barlow added. "He believes that if he had, he could've stopped her from attackin' Rythmi. I take it nobody else here noticed it either?"  
"Alexa has become fairly distracted as of late, and I certainly can't fathom where she got her recklessness from. If that girl's not careful, she could get hurt again, or worse still; end up dead."  
"Oh come on, Professor, Alexa knows better than that!"  
"Let's hope that's the case. Alexa's a good Top Ranger, but recent events have seriously hindered her skills."  
"And her mental health, from what Keith told me." Barlow added. Hastings raised an eyebrow with intrigue.

Ellie-May-Jan slowed down as she approached Alexa's Chicole residence and allowed Keith to dismount her. Keith and Ellie-May-Jan walked to the front door, only for Chelsea, the red-eyed Meganium to answer it before Keith could even knock.  
"Ganium!" Chelsea greeted, moving away from the door to allow Keith and Ellie-May-Jan to enter. Keith spotted Ryder on the sofa; while he looked extremely comfortable with a pillow behind his head and a blanket keeping him warm, Ryder was pouting.  
"Hey, Ryder."  
_She's upstairs,_ Ryder said plainly.  
"What's gotten your tail in a knot?" Keith asked.  
_Chelsea's vines, almost,_ Ryder huffed.  
"It was a rhetorical question," Keith sighed.  
"Reow." Keith spotted a familiar Persian at the foot of the staircase, smiling sweetly at him.  
_Everyone else is having a little rest, so try not to be too loud if you can help it,_ Ryder added.  
"Speaking of which, get some yourself, mister," Keith laughed as he followed Kadia up the stairs. Ryder silently mimicked Keith's somewhat patronising words to himself in frustration. Ryder huffed as he lay on the sofa. Chelsea turned off the lights and lay down in her basket, next to the sleeping Tidus, comfortable in his own basket. Chelsea sighed contently as she drifted off to sleep. After Ellie-May-Jan happily returned to the solitude of her Poké Ball, Ryder grinned sinisterly.

Keith quietly entered Alexa's bedroom. He found her sitting in the middle of the floor in her lilac pyjamas, with the soles of her feet touching one another and her hands gently placed in front of her. Alexa had one eye open and was smiling at him, as if she'd anticipated his arrival.  
"Hi, Keith."  
"What're you doing now?" he asked as Alexa stood up.  
"I thought I'd try a bit of meditation before bed. Good thing you arrived when you did; I almost fell asleep," she laughed sheepishly. Keith smiled as he walked over to her. He gently placed his hand on her cheek.  
"How're you feeling?" he asked softly. Kadia's ears twitched and she exited the room curiously.  
"Better. For now, at least," Alexa replied quietly.

Kadia walked silently down the stairs and looked around the ground floor of the house. When she spotted the sofa where Ryder was resting, she was horrified to discover the significant lack of recovering Lucario. She noticed that the front door of the house wasn't quite closed; she came to the immediate conclusion that the faint sound she picked up was Ryder sneaking out of the house!

"So Barlow said you should stay the night again, huh?" Alexa asked as she held Keith's hands softly.  
"It's not that I didn't like the idea; I just don't really want to make crashing here a bad habit."  
"Don't be silly, my parents adore you," Alexa smiled. "As do I." Keith smiled sweetly, though he was blushing from nervousness.  
"After what I saw from your dad yesterday, I wasn't sure if he'd be happy about me staying here."  
"He trusts you, Keith."  
Kadia returned to the bedroom and jumped up on Alexa, resting her paws on her arms. Alexa immediately noticed how panicky she looked.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Reow! Re~ow!"  
"Oh no...!" Alexa released Keith's hands and followed Kadia down the stairs. Keith, confused, followed her.

By the time Keith arrived on the ground floor, he instantly understood why Kadia and Alexa were panicky and followed them outside.

Alexa and Kadia looked around the village, but they couldn't see Ryder anywhere. Keith and Buizel caught up to the girls.  
"He must've gone after Cain! Urgh, that pup's gonna get himself killed at this rate!" Alexa said frantically. She began to run off, but Keith managed to hold onto her hand and stop her before she got too far. She looked back at him in shock.  
"Alexa-"  
"But I-" Keith raised an eyebrow. Alexa sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I said I should stay away from Cain, so I should. It's for my own good."  
"...well, that and you're still in your PJ's."  
"Huh?!" Alexa looked at her nighttime attire. "Oh..." She looked at Keith, smiling and blushing sheepishly. "Whoops."  
"Don't worry, I'll look for him."  
"B-but what about-"  
"I know about Cain. But if I can find Barlow and explain the situation, he and I can look for Ryder together," Keith explained. Alexa appeared hesitant, but, after a small pause, she sighed.  
"Okay...on one condition."  
"Anything."  
"Take Kadia with you; she knows Flash, so she can help you see in the dark, and her hearing is extremely sharp. She can hear things we couldn't, so she might also help you find Barlow and even Ryder."  
"Okay, deal," Keith smiled.  
"I trust her battling skills too, but...please be careful..." Alexa looked down at Kadia. "Both of you."  
"Reow," Kadia nodded with compliance. Keith looked at Buizel.  
"You stay here, buddy, okay?"  
"Bui!" Buizel nodded as he leapt towards Alexa. She caught him and held him in her arms, almost like a teddy bear being cuddled by a little kid.  
"I'll be careful. I promise," Keith said sincerely. He quickly, yet gently, pecked a kiss on Alexa's lips before he and Kadia sped off out of the village, beginning the search for Ryder. Preferably before Cain finds him.

_To be continued..._


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty Eight – Search Party**

Alexa remained outdoors, holding Buizel in her arms, until Keith and her frustrated feline Pokémon, Kadia disappeared from sight. As Alexa hesitantly headed indoors, she saw a faint light from outside the village that gradually faded from view; Kadia had utilised her Flash technique. And with good reason, as it was dark out. Alexa let out a quiet sigh as she walked through the front door.

Hayden arrived downstairs and spotted the empty sofa as Alexa quietly closed the front door behind her.  
"What's going on?" Hayden asked. Alexa, slightly startled, faced her father.  
"He's run away," Alexa answered. "Keith's gone looking for him with Kadia." Hayden noticed Buizel in her arms.  
"Look, why don't I get Tidus to-"  
"No, dad." Alexa immediately declined an offer that Hayden hadn't even finished making, much to his confusion. "Ryder got hurt in the first place because of Cain, and, as strong as Tidus is, I really don't want to risk his health."  
"Do you honestly believe he's gone out at this time of night looking for that boy?" Hayden questioned. Alexa's breathing sped up a little as she appeared to become somewhat stressed.  
"Why else would he take that risk?" she asked. "There's already a feud between him and Cain's Hydreigon after he stepped in for Keenan, but he's also aware that Cain's Pokémon tried to outnumber Layla! In my opinion, Layla's brawl with those Pokémon is enough reason for Ryder to want payback."  
"I see. But we've told him time and time again not to look for him under any circumstance," Hayden sighed.  
"Ryder knows his limits, what possessed him to do something so...so stupid?!" Alexa stressed as she sat down on the sofa. "He was seriously hurt after his first grudge match against Hydreigon, and if he fights again in his condition, then...then he'd..." Buizel felt Alexa's grip on him tightening slightly and looked up at her worriedly. Hayden approached his distraught daughter and gently placed both hands on each of her shoulders.  
"Listen to me, it's going to be okay. I know it's hard for you, but you need to stop thinking the worst. Okay?" Alexa was too upset to answer without breaking down, so she merely nodded to confirm her answer. Hayden looked at the front door angrily; he didn't care why he ran away, but he knew what Ryder did was selfish, and only served to jeopardise Alexa's already fragile mental health. It was only fortunate that she wasn't on any form of medication.

In the forest, Keith looked around as Kadia walked slightly ahead of him, harnessing her Flash technique as an improvised headlight. Kadia was about as impressed as Ryder's Houdini act as Hayden was.  
"The forest has a spooky feel to it at night. It's...kinda creepy," Keith said. But the Persian paid him no heed. With Ryder's despicable behaviour on her mind, she began to growl nastily, which only served to unnerve Keith, as he believed that she was angry with him for trying to make conversation with her.  
All of a sudden, Kadia stopped in her tracks after her ears twitched. She used a paw to signal Keith into following her into the bushes. Keith complied, as he didn't want to cause a disturbance between him and the Persian. The duo soon made their way to a clearing, and they spotted Barlow and Makuhita with a wild Leafeon and Blastoise nearby, both of whom were looking at the Area Ranger.  
"Barlow?"  
"Hm? Oh, hi, Keith," Barlow greeted. "Told ya I wouldn't be alone, eh?" he teased as Keith and Kadia approached him. "What's goin' on?"  
"Ryder's run off," Keith said bluntly. Barlow's eyes widened in shock.  
"You're kidding?"  
"I wish I was; Alexa's pretty stressed about it," Keith continued. "I tried to set her mind at ease in offering to find him in her place."  
"Oy vay... I can't imagine this being taken too well."  
"Rrr," Kadia nodded in agreement. Barlow looked down at the annoyed Pokémon before looking back at Keith.  
"Let me guess; one of Alexa's?"  
"Yep. She's kinda scary, if I'm honest," Keith said nervously.  
"Don't take it personally; I'm sure she's just furious with Ryder running off like that." Barlow knelt down in front of Kadia with a friendly demeanour about him. "Right?"  
"Reow," Kadia nodded. Barlow stood up and smiled at Keith.  
"See?"  
"Oh. I guess I can't blame her for that; I wouldn't be impressed if I were in her shoes. Or paws, so to speak."  
"Exactly," Barlow nodded. "But I don't get why he'd want to find Cain in his state. He should've learned his lesson the first time he confronted that boy."  
"I don't really know why, but I want to find him. Preferably alive," Keith said firmly. Barlow nodded.  
"Agreed. We'll look together; safety in numbers and all." Keith thoroughly agreed and the group resumed the search, with Kadia slightly in front of everyone else with her headlight.

Elsewhere, the skinny Absol walked along a lonely path in the forest, looking around cautiously as he walked. He had numerous bruises, a few burns and several healed cuts from his battle against the sparkling Zangoose, and the Disaster Pokémon felt frustrated that he couldn't defeat her. Absol soon felt a chill down his spine and stopped in his tracks, looking around the entire area. A bandaged Ryder slowly walked out of the darkness...and pounced.

_OOF!_

"SOL!" Absol was taken by surprise as Ryder had overwhelmed him and pinned him down. Ryder was glaring furiously at Absol.  
_We need to talk,_ Ryder stated.  
"Sol," Absol huffed in defiance. He attempted to push Ryder off of him, but Ryder's grip proved too strong for the malnourished Pokémon.  
_No, no, no, I need you here. Listen, your so called master has hurt two very dear friends of mine, and I want to find him to get payback. You're going to tell me where he is._  
"Absol...?" Absol growled angrily.  
_Because you can say goodbye to your scythe if you don't,_ Ryder threatened. Absol simply smirked at the Lucario, believing him to be bluffing.

"Oh, by the way, I managed to talk to the professor about what you told me earlier on," Barlow told Keith.  
"Oh yeah? What'd he say?" Keith asked, somewhat dreading Barlow's reply.  
"He said he doesn't hate Alexa, but thinks she needs to pull herself together," Barlow answered.  
"But she's trying to do that!" Keith exclaimed. "But...Ryder running off hasn't exactly helped anything in that department..."  
"I told the professor the measures you told me about when I brought up her mental health," Barlow continued. "He commends her for recognising her faults and appreciates her trying to do something about 'em. But he also brought up her 'recklessness' and said he doesn't understand where she got it from."  
"So bravery's just recklessness to him, is it?" Keith asked with frustration.  
"There's a fine line between the two, Keith," Barlow said calmly. "He said she's been distracted as of late."  
"Can you honestly blame her? Immediately after her mission in Oblivia, she got a call to come back and face up to this clown that's goin' about killing every Pokémon, and it didn't help that Rhythmi practically put her foot in her mouth when she saw Alexa's necklace with Ly-"  
"Hssssss...!" Kadia hissed furiously. Keith and Barlow looked at Kadia in confusion.  
"I was only going to say L-" Keith was cut off by Kadia's leopard-like growling. Keith sighed. "You don't like anyone talking about her, do you?" Kadia shook her head. "Reow."  
"What was that about?" Barlow asked in confusion.  
"I don't think Kadia likes anyone other than Alexa, or her fellow Pokémon, to talk about Lydia," Keith guessed. Kadia nodded in confirmation.

Kadia suddenly stopped in her tracks as her ears twitched continuously. Barlow and Keith looked at the statue-like Persian in confusion; the only part of her that was moving were her ears.  
"Now what?"  
"Alexa said her hearing's very sharp; she can hear things we can't," Keith explained rather quietly. Kadia, honing in on what she was allegedly hearing, sharply turned to her right a little.  
"Raarw!" Kadia sped off in the direction she was facing. Keith, Barlow and Leafeon chased after her while Blastoise struggled to keep up.

_BOOM!_

"AB!" Absol crashed into the ground and skidded along the grass. He had more bruises and his cuts were beginning to bleed once again. Ryder's injuries had become agitated from his little brawl with Absol, as his bandages had become slightly bloodied.  
_Okay, have you got that out of your system?_ Ryder asked, patronising the fallen Absol. Absol snarled furiously at the young pup as he struggled to his feet. Glowing in a bright red aura, Absol raced towards Ryder. Ryder, however, was on guard.

_BOOM!_

Ryder swerved away from Absol's path and the hot-tempered Pokémon crashed into a tree. Absol moved away from the tree and staggered about, giddy from a head-first collision.  
_Dear me, I suppose not,_ Ryder sighed. Absol rapidly shook his head and snarled furiously at Ryder again. Reusing his red aura, Absol leapt into the cocky Lucario.

_BANG!_

_AAAAAAAAAGH!_ This time, it was a direct hit; Absol's Superpower struck Ryder right on his abdomen, where Hydreigon's Flamethrower had struck him previously. As soon as Ryder hit the ground, the two Pokémon engaged in a typical dogfight, exchanging snarls, small barks and most definitely bites. Eventually, Ryder miraculously prevailed, albeit by a narrow margin. Panting, Ryder stood up and quickly shot an Aura Sphere from one paw. Absol tried to leap away.

_BOOM!_

Absol howled in pain as the Aura Sphere struck one of his back legs, almost rendering him unable to walk. Absol tried his hardest to stand back up, but Ryder approached him.

_SMACK!_

Absol yelped in pain as Ryder kicked him in the face, forcing him onto his back. Ryder then pressed a foot down on Absol's chest, close to his throat. He looked down at his victim mercilessly.  
_Now. Let's get down to business now that we've stopped fighting like...well...the Pokémon that we are._  
"Rrrrrr..." Absol was virtually powerless to object to Ryder's demands. He had no alternative but to submit to the Lucario's interrogation.  
_Now then. You and your, uh...friends had decided to pay my friend Alex a visit the other day. I want to know what happened._  
"Rf," Absol looked away from Ryder; while he was submitting to the interrogation, nothing could stop him from refusing to answer Ryder's questions.  
_Okay, let's try another one then. Did you contribute to Layla's injuries?_ Ryder asked. Absol looked up at him, in confusion at first, but he soon smirked; Layla must've been the Zangoose he fought, Absol assumed.  
"Absol..." he confirmed.

_SMACK!_

Absol yelped in pain as Ryder slapped him across the face. Ryder was not amused at Absol's response.  
_You're not supposed to be proud of it!_ Ryder snarled. _She's very important to me, and I don't want to see anyone who hurt her being proud of having done so! Now, what did Cain do to Alex?!_ Absol chuckled.  
"Absol..." He then licked the air, as if he was licking something. Ryder, despite not showing whether or not he believed Absol's reply, saw red, and became enveloped in his own aura.  
_Answer the question,_ Ryder demanded in a low growl. Absol chuckled again.  
"Ab-sol...Absol," he winked. Ryder snarled loudly as he lifted his foot. Absol tried to squirm away, but he couldn't.

_SLAM!_

Absol choked as Ryder stomped on his throat. Ryder didn't care whether or not Absol was winding him up and was bluffing about what he'd claimed, Absol was riding his last nerve. Ryder pressed his foot back down on Absol's chest, allowing him to breathe properly.  
_If your master does ANYTHING like that to her again, I swear to Arceus that I will come down on him like Judgement, do you understand me?!_  
"Absol," Absol replied with a sinister grin on his face.  
_That's what else I want to ask you; where IS he?_  
Absol then became aggressive; playtime was over. Absol refused to answer, and gathered small embers in his slightly gaping mouth.  
_Unless you want a Focus Blast to the face, extinguish your flames,_ Ryder demanded simply. _Now where is that dictator you call your master?!_  
"Rf," Absol looked away from Ryder again, expressing his refusal to give away his master's whereabouts. Ryder's stance relaxed.  
_Fine. I guess this Focus Blast is going straight for your n-_

_RAAAAAAAOOOORWW!_

Kadia's roar cut Ryder off mid-sentence as she, Keith, Barlow and the Pokémon hurried onto the scene. Kadia was in front of the group, preparing to pounce.  
"Ryder, step away from the Absol!" Barlow insisted.  
_No way! This is HIS Absol, and I'm trying to get answers!_  
"I don't care if that Absol belongs to the mayor of Hoenn! Get off of him and come with us!" Keith shouted angrily.  
_After all the trouble of tracking him down?! Do you know how hard it is to track stuff without using aura?!_  
"I'm not in the mood for games, and neither is Kadia! Just step down!"  
_No! You don't get it, Keith, I'm trying to-_  
"I don't care! Your vanishing act isn't doing Alexa any favours!"  
_I'm trying to help! I'm trying to find Cain!_  
"Is it working?" Barlow asked, raising an eyebrow.  
_W-well, not yet, but-_  
"Then stop what you're doing and come with us," Barlow said calmly.  
_Are you kidding? There's no way I'm gonna-_

_RAAAAAAAOOOORWW!_

Kadia leapt towards Ryder and tried striking him with her claws. Ryder, startled, stepped away from Absol to avoid the attack. Kadia prowled towards Ryder, glaring at him and growling furiously. Ryder was intimidated; he knew that when Kadia was angry, she was feral about it. Keith became worried.  
"Kadia..." The Persian ignored Keith; her focus was honed in on Ryder. She was furious with him. Her ears twitched as she heard the faint sound of Absol slowly trying to get to his feet. She turned her attention to the Absol and confronted him.

Leafeon and Blastoise walked behind Absol, ready to intercept him, but Absol's attention was drawn to Kadia. Ryder, Barlow and Keith watched as Kadia and Absol circled one another, Absol limping as he walked, exchanging small growls and snarls with one another; they were having their own little conversation. The air around the two Pokémon felt tense; the spectators anxiously awaited for the first attack, anticipating a fight. Absol smirked.

_RAAAAAAARGH!_

Kadia leapt away from Absol's fangs and claws, avoiding the imminent Bite attack. Absol landed face first into the grass. Absol lifted himself up, spat out the grass and mud he almost ate by accident and snarled angrily at Kadia; she was severely unimpressed with Absol's hastiness.  
_O-okay, that's enough, Kadia, l-let's just-_  
"Raaaaorrrw!" Kadia roared furiously at Ryder, causing him to wince. She prepared to pounce at Absol, who began to stagger towards her. Kadia leapt.

_SLASHSLASHSLASHSLASHSLASHSLASH!_

Kadia unleashed a blinding fury of slash attacks, almost all of them on Absol's face. When the barrage stopped, Absol was left with a face covered in bleeding slash wounds, one set over one of his eyes. Absol, aware of his eye's injury, snarled at Kadia with absolute anger; she potentially blinded him in that eye. Kadia returned the hate-filled snarling. Absol looked back at Ryder, who gulped as soon as he saw Absol's injuries. Absol limped over to Kadia and looked directly at her in the eyes, at a dangerously close proximity. Kadia, despite how close his nose was to hers, maintained her guard and stood her ground. Absol smirked and growled at her silently before he walked away from her with a limp.  
"Raaaaorwwraaaaaaaaoww!" Kadia roared towards Absol. But Absol ignored her, and made his way out of the vicinity. Kadia then glared at Ryder.  
_I-I can explain,_ Ryder said nervously as the enraged Persian walked over to him.  
"Raaaoorrw!" Kadia pretended to leap at Ryder, causing the Lucario to fall onto his back. She loomed over him and growled angrily at him. Barlow and Keith approached Ryder and Kadia.

"Ryder, I'm glad you're safe, but you should not have disappeared like that," Barlow said. "Do you have any idea what you've done by running off like that? After being told to stay put?"  
_I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself,_ Ryder said, with unease about his voice.  
"RAAAORWW!" Ryder flinched as Kadia roared furiously at him. She growled at him deeply. Ryder looked up at her in confusion.  
_What?_  
"Alexa was really worried when she found out you ran off," Keith explained. "I can only assume that Kadia's mad at you for making Alexa worry so much."  
_...that's putting it kindly,_ Ryder said, frowning. _But all I wanted was to find Cain...after what he did to Alex and Layla, I...I wanted him to pay._  
"RAAORWW!" Kadia slapped Ryder with her paw. Her claws weren't extended, so Ryder only had a red mark on his cheek, not slash wounds. "RAAAAOOORWWRAORW!" Ryder became extremely guilty and instantly regretted what he had done. A tear fell down his face as soon as he closed his eyes. Keith approached Kadia and knelt down to her level.  
"Come on. Let's get him back home," he said gently, attempting to calm her down. Hesitantly, Kadia stepped away from Ryder and allowed Keith to help him up onto his feet. Kadia gave Ryder one last glare before returning to the front of the group with her headlight. Keith, Barlow, Ryder and the Pokémon followed Kadia away from the clearing.

Throughout the trek, Ryder kept his head down, feeling very sorry for himself; his ears were dropped, his tail was dragging slightly along the ground and he avoided eye contact with everyone. Leafeon had attempted to cheer the sad puppy up, but Ryder ignored her. Barlow was left unimpressed with Ryder's behaviour, but Keith was concerned about Alexa's reaction to Ryder's motives for running away. But both Rangers knew that Ryder showed regret for what his selfish actions had potentially did to Alexa, whose mental health was unstable as it is, despite her measures to keep it together. Keith had also noticed that Kadia looked a lot calmer than she did at the start of the search; her shoulders were loose and she no longer growled to herself. Keith assumed that she was satisfied that they had found Ryder.

Leafeon and Blastoise waited outdoors as Barlow, Keith, Kadia and Ryder made their way into Alexa's house. Buizel smiled at Keith and greeted him, which caught Alexa and Hayden's attention. Layla was also out of her Poké Ball and spotted Ryder. She approached him, angrily.  
"Nyah! nyah nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah, nyah nyah?!" she snapped. Keith and Barlow walked over to Hayden. Barlow looked back at the blue and white Zangoose scolding Ryder in confusion.  
"What's going on now?"  
"Layla's angry with Ryder for running off without telling anyone," Hayden replied. Keith sat next to Alexa.  
"Hey...you okay?" he asked worriedly. Alexa took a deep, shaky breath before nodding.  
"I think so," she replied. "I-I've just been so worried all this time..."  
_I'm sorry, Layla, okay!?_ Ryder snapped back, taking Layla by surprise. Ryder sighed as he looked away from her. _I'm sorry...I-I just wanted to make Cain pay for what he did to you and-_  
"Na-yah...! Nyah-nyah, na-yah..." Ryder walked passed her and over to Alexa.  
_I'm sorry... I should've considered your feelings when I decided to find him,_ he apologised. Alexa looked at him.  
"I didn't want you to find him!" she exclaimed. Ryder became even more guilty; he had picked up the stress Alexa was feeling from her voice alone. "After what happened when you stepped in for Keenan, I-I didn't want you to have anything to do with him! Y-you've been told repeatedly to stay put!"  
_I know...! I'm really sorry..._ Ryder apologised sincerely. Alexa looked away from Ryder. _You do believe me, don't you?_  
"I know you're being truthful...but you're being so...headstrong...I don't know if you'll do the same thing again..."  
_I-I won't! You have my word!_ Ryder stressed. Alexa looked at him with tears in her eyes.  
"Do I?"  
"That's enough, Ryder," Hayden said firmly. Ryder looked up at him.  
_B-but-_  
"Enough." Ryder sighed and dropped onto the floor. He sat there, sulking; the last thing he wanted to do was upset his trainer, which he ended up doing when he ran away for his own selfish desires.  
"Hayden, I'm going to resume patrolling, is it still okay for Keith to stay here for the night?" Barlow asked. Hayden smiled at the base leader.  
"Absolutely, he's always welcome," he replied. "But are you sure you should be out at this time of night?"  
"I'm fine, I've got a Leafeon and a Blastoise outside," Barlow answered. "You should worry about your daughter, don't worry about me."  
"If you say so," Hayden said. Barlow looked back at Keith and Alexa.  
"I know tonight hasn't been kind, but try to get some rest," he advised. "I'll check in tomorrow."  
"Thanks, Barlow," Keith thanked.  
"Until then, take care of yourselves," Barlow said as he left the house. Alexa handed Buizel back to Keith as her father faced her.  
"Come on, why don't you get some rest like he said, eh? You'll feel better in the morning." Alexa simply stood up and walked over to the table with a Premier Ball and a Fast Ball sitting idly on top. She picked them up and held them in front of Kadia and Layla respectively.  
"Thanks, girls." Kadia and Layla then returned to their own Poké Balls in a red light emitted from the central buttons on the Poké Balls. Alexa put the Poké Balls back down on the table and made her way upstairs, without saying a word or even looking at Ryder. Confused, Keith followed her up the stairs with Buizel. Hayden turned his attention to the sulking Ryder.

"Okay, your turn; up you get," Hayden said as he took Ryder gently by his arm to help him up off of the floor.  
_She...she's upset with me..._  
"Yes, she is. You should've thought about that before you pulled a Houdini," Hayden muttered as he helped Ryder onto the sofa.  
_How am I supposed to set things right..?_  
"It's not my place to say in these circumstances; you're the one she's upset with. You'll need to figure that one out for yourself," Hayden explained. "Listen, I'm sure Alexa understands what you were trying to do, but it was still foolhardy of you to try finding that boy in your condition."  
_But I'm all right! I don't need any more bed rest, I'm fine!_  
"Even if that's what you believe, Alexa was still worried sick about you all this time. It's not just about you, Ryder," Hayden said as he carefully placed the blanket over Ryder's body, leaving his head exposed. "Your actions can have consequences that affect others as well. Tonight proved just that." Before Ryder could get a word in, Hayden made his way up the stairs, leaving the Lucario with plenty of food for thought. He began to reflect on his actions.

Alexa sat on her bed, looking down at her hands, just like she did before Keith and Barlow had arrived. Keith sat next to her and looked at her worriedly.  
"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked.  
"I...I don't know anymore," Alexa sighed. "Maybe I'm just worrying too much, but...what if Ryder did find Cain? What if he got severely hurt before you arrived a-and...?" Keith shushed her softly as he pulled her close to him.  
"We don't know what would've happened. Just remember the important thing is that we found him, and that he's safe. That's all that matters."  
"Hmm..."  
"What's happening to you...? You used to be level-headed, but now you're really panicky...what's the matter..?"  
"I-I don't know...it's probably just anxiety or something," Alexa replied. "...Keith?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What was Ryder doing when you found him?"  
"Looked like he was interrogating Cain's Absol, hoping to find out where he's hiding," Keith answered. "Neither one was that badly hurt, most of Absol's injuries looked rather old."  
"Probably from when Layla fought him."  
"Kadia eventually sent him packing, and then she gave Ryder hell for disappearing like that. He was really upset over what he did."  
"I know... thanks for finding him, Keith," Alexa said quietly as her eyes began to water. Keith held her in a cuddle, but her tears fell regardless.  
"Of course."

_To be continued..._


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty Nine – Wish For The Forest**

The morning sun was beaming all over Almia, the air was mildly cold and the breeze was almost non-existent as Alexa casually strolled along the forest path. Her Nidoking companion took note of the mild damage on the ground as well as on most of the trees they passed along the way. The Nidoking looked towards his trainer in confusion.  
"Niidoo...?"  
"The forest had a fire a few months back," Alexa explained. "There was a fuel spillage and the gizmo that was being refuelled set off a spark that started the fire in the first place."  
"Niidoo..."  
"Yeah, Luana and I sorted it out, Nando, don't worry," Alexa smiled sweetly. Nando smiled at his caring friend.

"ALEX!"

Nando and Alexa stopped and looked behind them as a graceful Rapidash galloped towards them, with Keenan and Keith on her back. Iara sat behind Keith, somehow still on the Rapidash's back despite the high speed, while Buizel was safe on Keith's shoulder. The riders dismounted from the Rapidash's back after she gradually came to a halt.  
"There you are! Why weren't you at the house this morning?" Keenan asked worriedly.  
"I just fancied an early morning walk, that's all," Alexa replied.  
"But you missed breakfast," Keenan stated. Alexa shrugged.  
"I wasn't hungry," she said plainly.  
"Alex..."  
"Ryder's been asking about you," Keith added. Nando sighed with frustration.  
"He hasn't left a good impression on the Pokémon," Alexa said, explaining Nando's sigh.  
"What about you? Do you trust him?" Keith asked.  
"Uh...it's hard to say," Alexa admitted. "I know he's telling the truth, but...I don't know. I need more time to think it over."  
"But you do believe him, right?" Keith questioned.  
"Yeah, I believe him," Alexa nodded.  
"Then there's no reason why you can't trust him then."  
"I guess," Alexa said quietly. After Keenan returned his Rapidash to her Poké Ball, he looked around at the forest carefully; he hadn't had the time to admire the scenery properly due to past circumstances.  
"Is it true this place was on fire?" he asked. "Ryder told me about it this morning."  
"Yeah, it was," Alexa replied. "It seems to be recovering pretty well, though. I wonder what it was like before the fire; I never went here beforehand."  
"Maybe it's like the Ilex Forest," Keenan assumed. Alexa shrugged.  
"So, this walk you fancied. Going anywhere in particular?" Keith asked.  
"Not especially," Alexa said. "I doubt I'm really welcome at the Ranger Union, so that's off limits..."  
"What makes you think you're not welcome?" Keith questioned.  
"You had that meeting with your boss, right?" Keenan asked.  
"Y-yeah...but I still think the professor's not too keen on me," Alexa said quietly.  
"Hun, he doesn't hate you," Keith sighed. Alexa looked at him in confusion. "He just thinks you need to pull yourself together."  
"How do you know that?" she asked.  
"Barlow told me," Keith answered simply. "I asked him to talk to the professor about it, and what I just said was what Barlow told me last night while we were finding Ryder."  
"You didn't need to go through all of that trouble," Alexa said.  
"It's nothing, really, I just-"  
"No, that wasn't a compliment; you really didn't need to go through all of that trouble," Alexa said rather firmly. "If I wanted answers, I'd get them myself."  
"...sorry. I thought I was doing you a favour," Keith apologised.  
"I appreciate the thought, Keith," Alexa smiled. "But I'm a big girl; I can fight my own battles." Keith smiled at her.  
"Yeah, you're right. Guess I wasn't thinking," he said nervously.  
"I won't hold it against you," Alexa winked. "I'll talk to him when I'm good and ready."  
"You're not at the moment?" Keenan asked. "Part of me was thinking you left this morning to talk to him."  
"I'm not that confident yet," Alexa confessed. "We weren't exactly on good speaking terms before I got suspended in the first place."  
"Oh." Iara looked around the forest and spotted Ollie in the distance.  
"Por!" Keenan looked down at her.  
"What's up?" Alexa looked at what Iara spotted.  
"Ollie? What's he doing here?" she asked. She ran off, hoping to catch up with Ollie. Nando followed her immediately, and Keenan, Keith and Iara followed behind.

Alexa and Nando caught up with Ollie in a clearing. He spotted them as they approached him. Ollie smiled.  
"Hi, Alexa! You're looking pretty today," he said, admiring Alexa's casual attire. Her attire was composed of a deep purple long sleeved shirt with a heart shaped hole just below her neck, a pair of black bootleg trousers with a dark cyan belt bag clipped around her waist, dark grey slip-on shoes and her grandmother's emerald choker necklace. "Not on duty today?"  
"No...suspended."  
"Still? I thought that was over," Ollie said, bemused.  
"Unless there's something the Union's not telling me, my suspension's not over yet," Alexa said as Keith, Keenan and Iara caught up to her. "What're you doing here anyway?"  
"Oh, right. I decided to restore the forest to its former state," Ollie replied.  
"How?" Keith asked in puzzlement. Ollie looked towards him.  
"I'm looking for Celebi; Elaine said it has the power to heal the forest," he explained.  
"Why would a Celebi be here?" Keenan asked. Ollie looked down at Keenan before looking back at Alexa.  
"Who's this?"  
"My little brother, Keenan," Alexa replied. She smiled down at her brother. "And Celebi's not strictly bound to the Ilex Forest just because it has a shrine there. They appear wherever there are forests, like the Vien Forest."  
"And I want to find it and ask it to heal the forest," Ollie added. "I even saw it once, but only briefly. I haven't seen it since."  
"That's hardly surprising; Celebi can travel through time, after all," Alexa said. "In fact, nobody knows that if there's more than one Celebi or if the Celebi from each time period is actually the same one."  
"I don't know where it is now, though..." Ollie sighed.  
"I guess I could help out," Keith suggested. He then faced Alexa and Keenan. "Will you help me?"  
"Of course," Alexa smiled.  
"I don't know how we can, but okay," Keenan agreed. Bidding Ollie 'see you later', the trio and the Pokémon began their search for the elusive Celebi.

It was early afternoon by the time the search party ended up in front of a large waterfall near the edge of the forest. Keenan, Alexa and Keith sat down on the grass to take a break.  
"We've covered half of the forest, but there's still no sign of Celebi," Keith complained. Alexa leaned back against the tree trunk and relaxed.  
"Well, Celebi shares some traits with Mew," she began. "Both are playful, but also timid in spite of their power. Maybe Celebi's hiding because he's just scared. Then again, he could be hiding for, as Ryder would put it, the 'lulz'." Keith moaned with frustration.  
"Whatever the reason, it's doing my head in," he said. "Why did I agree to help Ollie with this in the first place?"  
"Pity?" Alexa questioned, rather jokily. Nando sniggered at Alexa's reply.

_FLASH!_

A flash of light caught the group's attention as Celebi materialised before them. Everyone stood up and looked at the seemingly cheerful Celebi.  
"That's it?" Keith questioned.  
"Eeyup," Alexa confirmed. Celebi spotted Keith, Alexa and Keenan.  
"Celebi, we were wondering if-" Keenan was cut off by Celebi's giggling as he began to circle the entire group before flying further into the forest. Everyone watched him leave.  
"I think he wants to play," Alexa guessed.  
"I don't have time for games!" Keith exclaimed. "Hey, Alexa, do you have your Dodrio with you?" he asked.  
"Yeah, why?"  
"Think she'd be up for a run?"  
"She usually is," Alexa replied as she took out the Safari Ball from her belt bag. She pressed the button on the green Poké Ball to release the three-headed ostrich Pokémon. "Gals, Keith wants another ride if that's okay with you; there's a Pokémon to catch, so to speak." All three heads agreed with the request and she bent her legs to allow Keith to mount onto her back.  
"Okay, let's get that Celebi!" Keith exclaimed.  
"Wait, Keith, Celebi's-" Too late; Ellie-May-Jan had already jumped over the river in pursuit of Celebi before Alexa could warn Keith. "...mischievous."  
"We should get after them," Keenan suggested.  
"Think Darcy's up for another run?" Alexa asked.  
"She usually is," Keenan replied with a smile, mimicking his sister's words. Keenan released his amber-eyed Rapidash from her Poké Ball. He and Alexa climbed onto her back, one at a time, while Iara jumped onto Darcy's back, like she had previously. Alexa looked down at her Nidoking.  
"Nando, can you watch from the river please? If Celebi gets out of hand, use Water Pulse to startle him if you can." Nando gave Alexa a salute in response.  
"Niidoo..." Darcy leapt beautifully over the river as Nando dived into the river itself. Nando swam quickly alongside Darcy, who ran along the riverbank, hoping to catch up with Keith and Ellie-May-Jan.

Keith and Ellie-May-Jan had a tough time keeping up with Celebi, who was constantly avoiding the pair, much to Keith and Ellie's mutual annoyance. Jan was having the time of her life chasing Celebi, but May paid no attention to the chase.  
"Hihihihihihi..." Celebi giggled.  
"You won't be laughing when I get a hold of you!" Keith threatened. Darcy galloped onto the scene, narrowly avoiding the idle Forretress along the way.  
"Keith, wait!" Alexa cried.  
"If I do, it'll get away!" Keith responded loudly as he continued his chase. Darcy grunted with annoyance as she began to chase the Dodrio.  
"Weren't you listening to me earlier?! I said Celebi are playful! He's playing with you!" Alexa exclaimed.  
"Does it look like I'm having fun!?" Keith shouted, quickly loosing his cool.  
"Maybe Celebi thinks your anger is amusing!" Keenan yelled in response. "Don't let it-"

_ZOOM!_

Ellie-May-Jan dashed away from Darcy, at top speed, after Celebi. Alexa and Keenan watched the blurry figure of Ellie-May-Jan speeding off into the distance.  
"...get to you..."  
"I think it already has," Alexa sighed.  
"C'mon, Darce!" Darcy neighed loudly as she began to sprint after the semi-irate Dodrio and the rattled Ranger rider.

Ellie-May-Jan had almost caught up to Celebi when he decided to turn around. Ellie-May-Jan had to skid to a halt when she and Keith noticed Celebi's change of direction.  
"Oh for goodness' sake!" Keith yelled loudly in frustration. The Dodrio sped off, following Celebi.

_ZOOM!_

Ellie-May-Jan brushed passed Darcy, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. Alexa and Keith watched the chase in bewilderment.  
"This isn't going so well, is it?"  
"No, bro...it's not..."  
Keenan clicked his tongue twice, and Darcy turned around to proceed chasing Ellie-May-Jan again.  
Keith had almost cornered Celebi by the river if the Time Travel Pokémon hadn't sped off passed him for the umpteenth time. Keith practically roared with anger as Ellie-May-Jan ran after him again. Nando looked over the riverbank in shock; he hadn't seen any human so furious.

_ZOOM!_

Once more, Ellie-May-Jan passed Darcy at blinding speed. The troupe watched the Pokémon chase.  
"If this keeps up, everyone's gonna get dizzy," Alexa moaned. Keenan looked down at the ground, which was almost completely ruined by Dodrio and Rapidash footprints.  
"Looks like the ground's suffering from all of this too," he noted.  
"Maybe we should stay here and intercept Celebi," Alexa suggested. "We're getting nowhere trailing after Ellie-May-Jan at every turn."  
"Standby, Darcy," Keenan said quietly to his soon-to-be exhausted Rapidash. Darcy nodded and stayed put.

Soon enough, Celebi was in sight, as were Ellie-May-Jan and Keith. Alexa was the only one to notice Celebi's baby-blue eyes shining in a green light.  
"STOP!" Alexa cried.

But it was too late; one of Ellie-May-Jan's talons got caught up in knotted grass and she fell. Because she was running at virtually top speed, the fall was rather devastating, not just for her, but for Keith and Buizel, who practically flew off of her back. Keith and Buizel bounced along the ground and crashed.  
Horrified, Alexa and Keenan jumped off of Darcy's back. Alexa ran over to Keith and Buizel while Keenan tended to Ellie-May-Jan's aid. Celebi floated above the wreckage, laughing so hysterically that he was almost crying.  
"Keith! Are you all right?!" Keith groaned as he struggled to stand himself up. Alexa helped him off of the ground, but almost gasped in shock when she spotted blood dripping down Keith's head.  
"Ow..."  
Iara and Darcy glared at the chortling Celebi angrily. Darcy scraped her hoof on the ground, preparing to charge as Iara jumped down from her back. Alexa looked back at Buizel.  
"Buizel, are you hurt!?"  
"Bui-bui bui...!" Buizel replied giddily, raising a paw into the air. Buizel's response was somewhat muffled, as his face was flat on the ground. Alexa used her free arm to help Buizel up.  
"You're clearly not," she sighed.  
"You okay?" Keenan asked the wounded Dodrio. May was bawling her eyes out and Ellie was glaring furiously at the extremely amused Celebi, feeling utterly humiliated, leaving Jan the only head actively communicating with the boy. Jan lifted her left leg up slightly and Keenan spotted the slightly swollen ankle. Keenan looked back at his sister.  
"Alex! I think Ellie-May-Jan's sprained her ankle!" he called. Alexa looked back at her brother.  
"I'll take a look when this is all over!" she responded.

Darcy neighed furiously as she and Iara charged at Celebi. No matter how many times Iara used Ice Beam or Darcy used her Megahorn technique, Celebi dodged each attack easily, as if to taunt the angry Pokémon. From the river, Nando tried many a time to use his Water Pulse attack to startled Celebi, but, to the Time Travel Pokémon, it was just another attack to dance around. Keenan, Keith and Alexa watched the display.  
"Even attacking him's not working!" Alexa said anxiously. "That Celebi's mischievous alright..." Keenan took a Poké Ball from his belt bag and opened it. But nothing came out of the Poké Ball. Keenan then watched Celebi, waiting for something to happen.  
Exhausted, Darcy, Iara and Nando ceased their assault. Celebi began laughing hysterically again, much to everyone's frustration. A violet Misdreavus slowly materialised behind the laughing Celebi and took a deep breath.

_"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"_

Celebi yelped in fright as the Misdreavus startled him with an ear-piercing screech; the screech itself was loud enough to only startle Celebi and nobody else. Celebi hyperventilated as he held a hand over his tiny little heart. The Misdreavus giggled.  
"Thanks, Ruby!" Keenan smiled. Keith stood up hastily and readied his styler.  
"Right..! Capture on!" he yelled as he fired the capture disc at the recuperating Pokémon.  
"But Keith, you-"  
"I can still use my styler, Alexa," Keith insisted abruptly. Ruby, the Misdreavus, rolled her eyes; having noticed the bleeding cut on Keith's forehead, she knew he'd need help.  
Celebi became serious. But regardless of how he tried to prevent the capture disc from circling him, his attacks were always thwarted by Ruby's many antics; sometimes she'd pull at Celebi's wings, sometimes she'd appear randomly in front of him, but she mostly nudged Celebi to stop his potential attacks. Eventually, Celebi became enveloped in a friendly light as the capture was declared complete. Keith recalled the capture disc back into his styler and relaxed.

"You shouldn't have stood up so fast," Alexa said with concern. Before Keith could talk to her, Alexa jogged over to Keenan and Ellie-May-Jan. She took a brief glance at the Dodrio's wounded ankle. Keith walked over to her, with Buizel, Iara, Darcy, Nando, after climbing out of the river, Ruby and Celebi following him.  
"I know, but Celebi's shenanigans just irritated me," he said quietly.  
"I tried to warn you about Celebi's behaviour," Alexa sighed. "I didn't think you were so easily angered."  
"I'm not, normally, but I don't like feeling degraded," Keith explained.  
"Yeah, well...a few seconds of hearing a friend's advice before jumping to the fray wouldn't go amiss," Alexa mumbled.  
"I'm sorry," Keith apologised. Alexa stood up, looking unimpressed. Keith assumed she was mad at him, but her attention was focused on Celebi.  
"My Dodrio's sprained her ankle because of your antics," she began. "And Keith's suffered as a result of that too. What do you say, mister?"  
"Bi-bibi..." Celebi said regretfully.  
"I should think so too. Fortunately neither injury is serious, but you've got to be more careful if you want to play with others," Alexa cautioned.  
"Bibi-bi..."  
"Let's just get back to Ollie," Keith moaned. Alexa took the Safari Ball from her pocket and recalled Ellie-May-Jan. Once her Dodrio was safe inside, Alexa placed the Safari Ball back in her pocket, knowing that she'd tend to her ankle later. Keenan returned Darcy and Ruby back to their respective Poké Balls and the group set off to leave the worn down racetrack of a forest clearing.

Keith, Alexa and Keenan returned to Ollie, who was hopelessly searching the same area over again until he spotted Celebi floating near Alexa.  
"Is that Celebi?" Ollie asked.  
"I'm perfectly fine, don't worry about a thing, we only got hurt trying to catch it," Keith muttered spitefully, holding onto his forehead.  
"Celebi, please, hear my wish!" Ollie's sudden request took Celebi by surprise. "Please, restore the forest to its former glory! Thank you, Celebi, make my wish come true!"  
"Uh, Ollie, I-I don't think you should, uh..." Alexa had noticed how nervous Celebi became.  
"What's wrong, Celebi? Please, show us your fantastic powers of healing!" Ollie begged as he tried to get a closer look at Celebi.  
"Biiiii!" Celebi flew away in fright and hid. While Ollie believed Celebi had disappeared, the little Pokémon only hid behind a tree trunk. Keith looked at Ollie, almost in anger.  
"Well done," he said sarcastically. Ollie sighed.  
"I guess that's what happens when you try to make easy money by doing something as shady as what I've done," he said remorsefully. "And I didn't even do it properly. I didn't think this through either..."  
"No you bloody didn't..." Keith muttered angrily. Alexa glared at him.  
"Keith..!"  
"It's just...when I saw Celebi coming here with you guys, I thought all of my problems were finally solved. I've always been such a shallow-dreamer," Ollie said sadly.  
"I wouldn't say that," Alexa said gently. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that."  
"Yeah? While I was searching for Celebi, I think I may have done more harm to the forest," Ollie continued. "Maybe I stepped on a plant or a branch carelessly or something; I never thought about being careful in my stride at all."  
"Ollie, branches and plants get damaged all the time, it's not a big deal," Alexa moaned. "I highly doubt you'll be condemned for stepping on a twig."  
"I just thought I could at least try to protect the forest; it's the least I could do," Ollie concluded.  
"You're not superman, you're human," Alexa chuckled.  
"Besides, Alex says that Celebi's the Guardian of the Forest. If you want to help the forest, I suggest leaving that to Celebi," Keenan added with a friendly smile. Ollie laughed.  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
"Your heart was in the right place, though, so I'm sure Celebi will realise that. It's just that he had a bit of a fright today and is gonna be edgy for a little while," Alexa explained. "It was the only way we could stop him before his antics hurt more than Keith and my Dodrio." Ollie finally spotted the blood on Keith's face.  
"Are you okay?!"  
"Ecstatic," Keith replied sarcastically.  
"My Dodrio sprained her ankle, but I think she'll be fine once it's sorted," Alexa smiled.

_"Biii!"_

Celebi flew around the clearing, leaving trails of light behind him as he flew. The forest soon began to shine in the same light until...

_FLASH!_

The healing light faded and revealed the forest to everyone blinded by the shine. They looked around in amazement at the forest's perfection; the grass was lush, little flowers had sprouted from the previously fuel-soiled earth, the trees stood tall and the air felt fresh for the first time in months. The sight was absolutely breath-taking. Yet Keith was the only one who was still sour about the experience he had.  
"So this is what the forest looked like, huh? It's beautiful!" Alexa said happily, admiring the scenery. Even her Nidoking was impressed at the sight.  
"Not quite Ilex Forest, but I agree!" Keenan stated. Alexa laughed; she knew her brother loves the Ilex Forest.  
"Thanks, Celebi!" she called.  
"Bii-bii!" Celebi replied merrily before fading away, disappearing to another point in time presumably.  
"That was amazing!" Ollie smiled. "So that's the magic of Celebi's powers, huh? I'm glad I got to witness it."  
"Yeah, well, you can tell Elaine about it once we get to the Ranger Base; I have a Dodrio to check over, and Keith needs that cut looked at," Alexa said sweetly. Keith huffed.

At the Vien Town Ranger Base, Elaine was seeing to Keith's cut, wiping away the excess blood with an alcohol wipe, and Alexa was using an emergency first aid kit from her belt bag to take care of Ellie-May-Jan's sprained ankle. Meanwhile, Keenan was simply having a drink.  
"Sounds like you all went through a lot to get the forest back to normal," Crawford said, sounding impressed.  
"I'd say it was worth it, but that depends on what everyone thinks about the experience," Alexa assumed. Ellie-May-Jan squawked quietly in three different tones; Ellie's was disgruntled, Jan's was neutral, but May's was saddened.  
"I just think Ollie could've been more grateful for what she and I went through," Keith said nastily.  
"I'm sorry, Keith, I was just so excited about restoring the forest and thinking about Celebi," Ollie said sheepishly.  
"Yeah, well, it was because of Celebi we got hurt in the first place," Keith pouted.  
"And he apologised for that," Alexa sighed. "Nothing's broken, so that's something to focus on." Barlow looked at Alexa with concern.  
"Alexa, you shouldn't have had anything to do with it, you're still suspended," he said. "Even though I'm trying to arrange sick leave for you."  
"I didn't do anything, I was just tagging along for the ride, so to speak," Alexa said in defence. "And I don't need sick leave."  
"At the moment," Barlow muttered.  
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Keith demanded.  
"Take it easy, champ, I'm just concerned," Barlow said calmly.  
"That's my job!" Keith yelled.  
"Mum's the one keeping Erma up to speed on her recovery, so, technically, it's her job," Keenan explained.  
"Look, I'm just trying to look out for you, Alexa, the last thing we want is for you to have a total breakdown," Barlow explained.  
"I appreciate the concern, but I'm doing fine right now," Alexa sighed. "Seriously, I don't really need the extra help. I can take care of myself."  
"I don't doubt that, but anything can happen so long as Cain's out there," Barlow said quietly. Alexa looked at Barlow in frustration.  
"What're you implying?" Barlow sighed, as if he was regretting what he was about to say.  
"The professor doesn't think you should be outdoors until Cain's caught and handed over to the International Police," he explained hesitantly.  
"Oh come on! Don't tell me he wants her under house arrest as well?!" Keith yelled.  
"Calm down," Elaine said softly as she proceeded to clean the cut on his forehead. As the alcohol wipe touched the open cut, Keith winced.  
"That's not what he's saying. He doesn't think that you're in the right state of mind right now, Alexa, and he doesn't want things to get worse for you," Barlow explained. Alexa resumed wrapping a bandage around her Dodrio's ankle, annoyed at Barlow. "He's just trying to look out for ya."  
"I can take care of myself," she insisted. Keenan grew concerned.  
"You're getting worked up, sis."  
"Wouldn't you be if you discovered that your old boss is trying to take care of your well-being behind your back?" Alexa asked rhetorically. "Not that I don't appreciate it; I just wish I was in the loop." Alexa tied the final knot on the bandage wrapped around Ellie-May-Jan's ankle and she smiled at her Pokémon. "Feel better?" All three heads squawked in mutual agreement and gratitude. "You're welcome."  
"There we go," Elaine smiled as she applied the squared dressing over Keith's cut.  
"Thanks," Keith said quietly as he stood up from the table he sat on. "This whole escapade took the entire day; I think it's time we called it a day."  
"Agreed. Get back to Chicole Village and get some rest, all three of you," Barlow stated. Alexa returned Ellie-May-Jan back to her Poké Ball and stood up.  
"We will. Thanks. And, please, no more speaking to the professor on my behalf; I'll talk to him when and if I feel ready," Alexa requested as Keenan approached her.  
"Y-yeah, okay. See you soon, Alexa," Barlow said as the trio, along with their Pokémon, left the Ranger Base.  
"You didn't mention what her Dad said to you, Barlow," Luana said with concern. Barlow sighed.  
"I didn't think I needed to. Loss of appetite could mean anything. Besides, Hayden sounded like he was already on top of things."

En route to Chicole Village, Iara and Buizel ran around playfully and Nando watched them with a smile. Keenan began to ponder.  
"I don't get it," he began suddenly. "Where's Cain hiding?"  
"He just shows up when it suits," Keith huffed.  
"Maybe Ryder can have a crack at finding him with his aura when he's feeling better," Alexa suggested. Keith looked at her, looking hopeful.  
"Does that mean you trust Ryder still?" he asked.  
"I just needed some time to think, but, yeah, I do," Alexa confirmed. "I just wish he'd listened to Chelsea, but what's done is done."  
"I think he'll be happy to hear that," Keenan said, smiling up at his sister.  
"I think so too," Alexa smiled. Her smile was short-lived. "But..."  
"What's wrong?" Keith asked.  
"I don't get why Cain's here in the first place," Alexa replied.  
"Battling, right?" Keenan assumed. Keith scoffed.  
"Understatement."  
"But if Cain's looking for a real challenge, he'd try finding a legendary Pokémon," Alexa continued.  
"Like Celebi?"  
"No, there're stronger legendary Pokémon than Celebi. But the ones Keith and I know of aren't here anymore."  
"Huh?" Keith raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
"Yeah; Darkrai was escorted back to Sinnoh, Cresselia and Heatran left when their gems no longer needed protection, and Palkia and Dialga are back in their own dimension. What other legendary Pokémon resides in Almia?"  
"Are you even sure there ARE any more?" Keith questioned.  
"Hmmm..." Alexa took a few moments to consider a response. "There's a possibility..."

_Elsewhere..._

A rugged male Empoleon was released from his Poké Ball, but he emerged from a blue light as opposed to a red one.

_SMASH!_

Empoleon looked at his master in confusion as he crushed the Poké Ball with his foot. Cain glared at Empoleon as a large Gengar emerged from his shadow, grinning evilly at the newly wild Pokémon.  
"Poleon?"  
"Now...let's see if this works," Cain said cold-heartedly. Gengar sniggered.  
"Gen-gar..."

_To be continued..._


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter Fourty – Final Clash pt 1**

It was a peaceful morning, and the sun was shining brightly on the land. Lily walked alongside her Meganium through the forest. Lily's attire was more sporty, contrary to her usual style, with a white T-shirt, black leggings and white trainers. Chelsea carried a straw basket in her mouth; the basket itself was filled with berries of different shapes, colours and sizes.  
"There was no need for you to carry that, Chelsea, I can carry it if you'd like," Lily offered.  
"Ganium," Chelsea declined, in a somewhat muffled voice.  
"Well, if you need a break, let me know."  
"Ga-nium," Chelsea replied.

The stroll, for the pair, was relatively uneventful until they began to walk along the bridge. They stopped mid-way when they spotted a blue body gently flowing down the river.  
"What on earth..?" Chelsea placed the basket down and watched the body as it flowed under the bridge. "Can you get that, Chelsea?"  
"Ganium," Chelsea nodded as a pair of slender green vines were released from the large pink flower around her neck. The vines wrapped around the strange blue body and Chelsea lifted it out of the water.  
"Oh, it's an Empoleon. What's one of those doing around here?" Lily questioned as Chelsea brought the Empoleon closer to the bridge.

Chelsea turned the Empoleon around, revealing a truly horrific sight. Empoleon's eyes were widened and almost at the back of its head, its tongue was hanging out of its beak and it even began frothing. Chelsea was freaked out, but Lily shrieked in horror, staggering backwards. Chelsea almost dropped the comatose Empoleon back into the water.  
"Mrs Thorndyke?!" Crawford yelled as he ran over to her and Chelsea, Budew hopping along in hopes of keeping up with his partner. "What's the-" he stopped mid-sentence as soon as he noticed the Empoleon in Chelsea's vines. "Cripes... Are you okay?"  
"Y-yes, it just took me by surprise is all," Lily replied.  
"Let's get this fella back to base. Maybe there's something we can do for the poor bloke there." Lily picked up the basket of berries as she and Chelsea, carrying Empoleon in her vines, followed Crawford and Budew out of the forest.

Alexa and Ryder arrived at the Vien Town Ranger base, but they hadn't noticed Empoleon sitting in the middle of the floor, with its eyes fixated on either the floor or its feet. Alexa did, however, notice her mother.  
"Hi, mum," she greeted politely. She looked towards Barlow. "Hey, Barlow, I was wondering if-" She trailed off when she finally spotted Empoleon. "What the hell is Cain's Empoleon doing here?"  
"That's Cain's?!" Barlow asked in shock.  
"We just found the poor thing in the river," Lily explained. Ryder moved closer to Empoleon curiously. "I've never seen anything like this, so I agreed to being him to the base."  
_Okay...but why's he alive?_ Ryder asked. _I mean, you'd think Cain would've killed the penguin, given his history an' all._  
"Who's to say he didn't try to?" Alexa asked rhetorically. Ryder looked up at her.  
_Are you saying he failed to?_  
"Maybe Empoleon survived by dumb luck," Alexa guessed.  
"What're you doing here, Alexa?" Barlow asked. Alexa faced him.  
"Oh. I was wondering if there's been any development regarding Cain's whereabouts," she replied. "Found him yet?"  
"No, and you shouldn't be getting involved," Barlow cautioned. "The last thing you need right now is to let him get to you again."  
"I'm fine," Alexa insisted.  
"I dunno; you having asked about him tells me otherwise," Barlow said with concern.  
"So you think I'm lying?!"  
"No, darling, what he means is he thinks Cain's still on your mind," Lily answered calmly.  
"After seeing what he's done, forgetting about him isn't a simple task," Alexa sighed. "So he's gonna be on my mind for a good while, whether I like it or not."  
_Damn skippy,_ Ryder smiled.  
"Even if I knew, I'd rather not tell you," Barlow said firmly. "I don't believe you should be getting involved."  
"I was just asking a question, I'm not going to start a manhunt of my own," Alexa pouted. "Y'know, you should start trusting me!"  
"It's not that I don't..."  
"Then what is it, Barlow?!"  
"Calm down, sweetie," Lily said gently.  
"The last thing I want is to be responsible for the deterioration of your mental health," Barlow replied.  
"I'm not going to totally loony as soon as I look at him!" Alexa protested.  
"Nobody's saying that, Alexa, but I assumed that you'd be staying away from him," Barlow said. "You'd look like a hypocrite if you went against your word."  
_Is there even any merit in this conversation?_ Ryder asked.

_BOOM!_

The entire base heard a large explosion, coming from somewhere in the Vien Forest. Alexa noticed the lack of desire to investigate the sound, so she, and Ryder, raced out of the base.  
"Alexa!" Lily cried. Barlow and Makuhita chased after them.  
"Come back!" he yelled. Lily ran over to the window and watched Barlow running after her daughter. But she and Ryder had already entered the forest before Barlow and Makuhita had left the base. Lily sighed.  
"Will she get into trouble?"  
"Depends on what caused that explosion," Crawford answered. "Could be two Pokémon having a scuffle, could be something else."

Hydreigon panted heavily as he returned to Cain's side. Cain himself was looking at the stone statue in the precise centre of the cave. Hydreigon took a deep breath.

_BOOM!_

Hydreigon released a weaker-looking beam attack on the statue. It created a small smokescreen in the cave, but it faded quickly, and the statue was unharmed. Hydreigon looked at his master worriedly, but Cain wasn't concerned about Hydreigon's failure.  
"This is going to be tougher than I thought... Hydreigon, try Dragon Rush." Hydreigon smiled as he began to charge at the statue. As he flew, his main head shone bright blue. The glow enveloped Hydreigon's entire being.

_BOOM!_

Hydreigon's sheer force demolished the statue, and the Brutal Pokémon flew back to his master's side, satisfied with his success. Alexa and Ryder arrived just in time to witness a large rocky arm bursting from the earth. Cain smirked a little as the large stone golem climbed out of the ground.  
"Perfect," Cain said quietly. He looked behind him, having noticed Alexa's presence. "It's been a while. Here to witness a momentous event?"  
"The only momentous event I'm interested in is the one that involves you paying for your crimes," Alexa said angrily. Barlow and Makuhita caught up with Alexa.  
"There you are! What'd you run off like that for?!"  
"Stop looking at me and find out," Alexa said spitefully. Barlow noticed Cain, Hydreigon and, particularly, Regirock.  
"Where'd that thing come from?!"  
"Who cares? It's mine," Cain said rudely. Barlow picked up his styler from his belt.  
"Not if I can help it!" he shouted.  
_Perfect; you handle Rock-Dude, I'll take care of No-Hands,_ Ryder stated.  
"You do that," Barlow nodded. Cain smirked.

_HWOO!_

"Whoa!" A blood red aura surrounded Alexa, Barlow, Ryder and Makuhita and they soon became suspended in the air. Makuhita panicked.  
_What the heck is this!?_  
"Gen-garrr..." A smirking Gengar, eyes shining in the same aura surrounding the victims, emerged from Cain's shadow.  
"I was wondering why it was colder in here," Alexa said quietly.  
"Now you know," Cain said simply.  
"What're you planning?!"  
"Alexa, I thought you weren't getting involved," Barlow sighed.  
"Too late for that now!" Alexa snapped. Cain looked at the confused Regirock as he pulled out a purple Poké Ball with two rounded pink bumps on either side on the top half of the Poké Ball. The purple half also had a small white M in between the two bumps. Alexa gasped.  
"T-that's...!"

Alexa watched helplessly as the thrown Poké Ball tapped Regirock on the head. Regirock then went inside the weird Poké Ball through a red light. The Poké Ball only shook once before the button shone red briefly. Cain smirked again.  
"Where did you get that Master Ball?!" Alexa demanded furiously.  
"Lottery," Cain replied simply as he went to claim his prize.  
"What kind of lottery gives away a Master Ball as the top prize?!" Alexa fumed.  
"I didn't say I won them," Cain chuckled.  
"...them...?" Alexa said quietly, in horror. Gengar swung his arms to the far end of the cave.

_BANG!_

Alexa, Barlow, Ryder and Makuhita crashed, head first, into the wall at the end of the cave. Their mysterious grip faded away and they all fell to the ground. Gengar and Hydreigon returned to their Poké Balls as Pidgeot emerged from his, sparkling as he appeared.  
"Work it out." Cain grabbed Pidgeot's shoulder as the golden bird Pokémon flew out of the cave. Barlow recovered quickly and attempted to stop Cain, but he and his Pidgeot were already out of sight. Angry, he looked back at Alexa, who, along with Ryder and Makuhita, walked out of the cave, rubbing her head.  
"Professor Hastings is going to LOVE this," he said sarcastically. "That's it, I'm taking you to the Ranger Union; you can explain what just happened here yourself." Alexa hadn't listened to a word Barlow said; she was more focused on Cain's words rather than Barlow's. She hadn't noticed Barlow informing Crawford of his decision via his styler. It wasn't until she felt Barlow grabbing her wrist that she finally paid attention to him. "Right, come on."  
"Hey, let go!" Alexa complained. Ryder and Makuhita looked at one another in confusion. Makuhita shrugged, but the duo followed Barlow and Alexa.

Lily was satisfied with Empoleon's recovery, as he was happily eating some Pokémon food. Crawford sighed as he placed his styler back on his belt.  
"Barlow thinks Alexa's in trouble," he said. Lily looked at him in confusion.  
"Is she all right?"  
"I meant with the professor," Crawford elaborated. "Cain caused that explosion, and Barlow isn't happy with her involvement in trying to stop him."  
"How was she supposed to know Cain was behind the disturbance?" Lily questioned in Alexa's defence.  
"I-"  
"I'm calling her father," Lily insisted as she took out a small black mobile phone from her pocket. She began pressing her thumb on the keypad.

Barlow practically dragged Alexa inside the Ranger Union, where they met Professor Hastings and Erma.  
"Get off me!" Alexa yelled as she forced her arm out of Barlow's grip. "I don't need an escort!"  
"I don't appreciate your tone, Alexa," Hastings said, sounding as unimpressed as he looked. "What's the problem, Barlow?"  
"Basically, there was an explosion in the Vien Forest and Alexa ran off to investigate," Barlow began.  
_That's not a crime!_ Ryder said angrily.  
"True, but Cain was responsible for the explosion," Barlow continued. Professor Hastings looked at Alexa angrily.  
"I had assumed you were to steer clear of that boy!" he shouted. "Do I have to put you under house arrest to make you comply with that?!"  
"There's no time for this!" Alexa exclaimed. Assuming her words were of defiance, Professor Hastings was greatly unimpressed.  
"Listen to me, young lady-"  
"No, YOU listen!" Alexa shouted loudly, startling her superiors. "Cain has captured Regirock in a Master Ball, and you can't have one without the other two, so he's got to be after Regice and Registeel as well!"  
"Alex!" Everyone looked towards the entrance as Hayden, Lily and even Keenan ran over to her. Hayden's attire was more simple than what he usually wore; a brown polo shirt and blue grey loose fit jeans with a navy blue belt pouch around his waist. "What's going on, sis?"  
"Cain's capturing the Hoenn golems, and all Barlow and the professor care about is the fact that Cain and I were in the same room!"  
"I thought you said you wouldn't face him again?" Hayden questioned.  
"How was I supposed to know he caused that explosion!? Besides, Dad, nobody else was keen to find out what it was!" Alexa exclaimed angrily.  
"Don't you start telling us how to do our jobs!" Barlow scolded. "Not when you're-"  
"That's enough, Barlow!" the professor said abruptly. "Regirock... Alexa, could you tell us more about that?" he asked calmly. Alexa looked at him and nodded.

"When Rhythmi sent us to find a Roserade, we came across a weird statue with Regirock's Braille on the base. I think Regice and Registeel have their own statues like that somewhere in Almia."  
"Hmmm...If you'll excuse me for a few moments..." Professor Hastings walked away from the conversation to make an enquiry at the front desk.  
"I hope you don't mind me asking, dear, but what are the Hoenn golems?" Erma asked.  
"Oh, they're a trio of large golem Pokémon," Alexa began. "Originating from the Hoenn region. They're Regirock, Regice and Registeel. Regirock was sealed away in the Vien Forest, but Cain somehow awakened it and captured it in a Master Ball. That being a Poké Ball that captures anything without failure."  
"What purpose would having Regirock serve for that boy?" Erma asked.  
"The golems were sealed away, like I said, so that can only mean that each golem has a lot of power going for them," Alexa guessed. Hastings returns to the meeting, with Sven and Wendy along with him.  
"All right, if Cain is trying to awaken the other two golems, we need to find them before he does," he said simply.  
"But that's awfully short notice; how are we supposed to find them before Cain?" Wendy asked.  
"I have a theory about one of them. As its name suggests, Regice is an Ice type Pokémon. It would make sense then that its statue is somewhere in Almia Castle," Alexa explained.  
"Yes, that's a very good assumption," Hastings agreed.  
"But what of the other one?" Erma questioned.  
"The Chroma Ruins, maybe?" Sven suggested. "I saw a statue there on our first visit, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. Could that be the other one, pet?"  
"Sounds like it if it had Braille on the base," Alexa replied.  
"It had a circle of dots on it if that means anything," Sven added.  
"Then, yes, that's Registeel's," Alexa confirmed.  
"Very well then! Sven, I want you to go to the Chroma Ruins and find that statue," Hastings instructed. "Wendy, you know your way around Almia Castle; I'd like you to find the statue there."  
"Professor, I should help; Cain's a Pokémon Trainer, so my Pokémon would be able to stand up against his," Alexa insisted.  
"I don't think that's a good idea," Hastings said. Alexa was about to protest, but he held his hand up. "Hear me out. I don't doubt that you're a talented trainer, but there's no telling which statue Cain will go after first, and you cannot be in two places at once."  
"Oh...I forgot about that," Alexa said shyly.  
"I can help," Keenan offered.  
"No! No way!" Alexa objected. "I'm not going to let my little brother come CLOSE to Cain again!"  
"But, Alex, if I help out, we can cover every base!" Keenan explained. "Come on, sis, have some faith in me."  
"Of course I have faith in you! I'd just rather you didn't have to be involved in all of this," Alexa sighed.  
"I know, but what other choice is there? Please?" Alexa eventually sighed quietly.  
"Okay...if that's what you want," she reluctantly agreed.  
"Perhaps I can help somehow?" Lily queried. "Hayden and I are trainers as well."  
"Is that so? Fascinating," Hastings smiled. "If you're offering, Mrs Thorndyke, then your help would be most appreciated."  
"Hang on a second here, are you sure that's a good idea?" Hayden questioned. "Accepting help from outsiders now? Are you sure?"  
"Alexa has made a valid point about Cain; he's a Pokémon Trainer, albeit one without morals," Erma explained. "Pokémon Rangers do not use Pokémon trained for battle. Well...with Alexa being the only exception thus far, at least."  
"If we are to have any chance of stopping that boy's shenanigans, we will need all the help we can get," Hastings continued. Hayden sighed.  
"All right," he said reluctantly.  
"So who's going with who?" Alexa asked hesitantly.  
"That's up to your brother and your mother," Hastings answered. Keenan approached Wendy and Lily walked over to Sven. "All right, seems like you've decided already. Best of luck to all of you." Hayden stopped Sven on his way out.  
"You'd better look after her," he warned.  
"I'll look out for her, don't you worry none," Sven smiled. Hayden turned his attention to Wendy.  
"And you. You'd better look after him."  
"I'll do my best," Wendy said reassuringly. Both teams left the building. Hayden sighed as he placed a hand on his head.  
"I never thought it would come to this," he said quietly. Ryder held onto Alexa's arm, and she looked down at him.  
_Don't worry, they're gonna be okay,_ he smiled.  
"I hope you're right," Alexa replied.  
"In the meantime, I believe it's best to bring Keith up to speed," Hastings suggested. "If Sven and Wendy fail, Keith will need to step forward."

Keenan and Wendy, riding on their bird Pokémon, Fearow and Staraptor respectively, flew over the freezing cold Hia Valley. The birds were searching for any signs of a certain golden Pidgeot.  
"How does your sister know about these golem Pokémon?" Wendy asked.  
"She studied Pokémon legends when Grandpa was homeschooling her," Keenan replied. "She loves indulging in them."  
"FEEEAAR!" Colin, the Fearow, squawked loudly to attract his rider's attention. Keenan and Wendy spotted Pidgeot flying through the doors of Almia Castle, with Cain upon his back.  
"Looks like Alex was right. Okay, Staraptor, we're going in!" Wendy stated.  
"Let's go, Miles!"

"FEEEEEEEAAR!"  
"STAAAAAARR!"

The birds dived towards the castle doors and beautifully flew inside before the doors closed behind them. Miles and Staraptor pursued Pidgeot as he flew around the castle. Eventally, after nearly destroying any furniture in their path, Miles and Staraptor caught up with Pidgeot, and that was when Keenan and Wendy spotted an icy statue in the corner of the room, with what appeared to be a plus sign in yellow Braille on the base. Cain jumped off of his Pidgeot and faced his pursuers.  
"You again? I would've thought you'd learned your lesson from when your Riolu had its near-death experience," Cain said coldly.  
"Hang on...you know him, Keenan?" Wendy asked in confusion.  
"It wasn't under the best of circumstances," Keenan replied.  
"So, what, you filling in for your sister now or something?"  
"There's only one of her, I'm just helping!" Keenan exclaimed as he and Wendy hopped off of their birds.  
"Listen up! You're not going to touch that statue if we can help it!" Wendy declared. Cain raised an eyebrow at Wendy.  
"Who're you?"  
"Top Ranger Wendy, if you must know," Wendy replied. Cain laughed.  
"A Top Ranger teaming up with a little kid?"  
"If I came here alone, it'd pretty much be suicide!" Wendy yelled. Cain laughed again as he unleashed his Hydreigon from his Poké Ball.  
"Say what you will; this Regice is going to be mine when I'm done with it," he said heartlessly.  
"I don't understand why you're after the trio," Keenan said in confusion.  
"That's none of your business and you can't stop me," Cain said sternly as his Gengar emerged from his shadow. Pidgeot also stepped forward, preparing to battle. Keenan looked down at the green pouch on his belt.  
"Guys, I need all of you here," he said reluctantly.

_POP-POP-POP-POP-POP!_

Five streams of white light escaped from the pouch and landed in front of Keenan and Wendy. Wendy was impressed at the Pokémon she saw; Iara, Keenan's short Vaporeon, Darcy, the amber-eyed Rapidash with an attitude to match her fire, Ruby, the violet Misdreavus with a big voice, Logan, the Beartic without the icicle beard and Mason, the Hitmontop with a meaningless bandage around his tail. Cain huffed.  
"I guess I can give you credit for not dressing like you're matching a Pokémon colour scheme," he said nastily, hinting Keenan's attire; a red T-shirt with a brown long-sleeved shirt underneath and blue jeans.  
"Stop making fun of my clothes!" Keenan yelled. "And how're you not cold?! You're not wearing anything underneath that coat!"  
"Your concern should be for your Pokémon and whether or not they'll survive mine, not about what I choose to wear," Cain warned.

_SNAP!_

With a snap from Cain's fingers, Pidgeot and Gengar flew into battle. Keenan's Pokémon, minus Miles, who stayed as far back as he could, moved in to intercept Cain's Pokémon. Wendy's attention was drawn to Hydreigon, as she and Staraptor moved in to counter the beastly dragon. Cain had noticed Wendy's course of action, but paid it little to no concern; his main interest was the brawl before him.  
Keenan was panicking; he had little experience in giving instructions to more than two Pokémon at once, and, thus, was struggling to give his Pokémon proper guidance. Ultimately, Keenan resorted to letting his Pokémon decide their attacks for themselves. Despite Cain being outnumbered, Keenan was the one at the disadvantage; Pidgeot and Gengar were merciless as they attacked Keenan's Pokémon, both fairly and unfairly. Logan kept concentrating on Pidgeot whilst Iara and Ruby's main focus was Gengar, but all of them were getting swamped by their devious manoeuvres. Blood was spilled everywhere, as all of Keenan's Pokémon sustained horrific injuries; it was a miracle they could still stand.  
Wendy, too, struggled against Hydreigon; Staraptor tried his hardest to divert the dragon's attention from the statue while Wendy tried her luck at using her styler on him. She wasn't sure how a Capture Styler would affect Pokémon bound by the Poké Ball, as it were, but she hoped for the best. That was, however, provided that Hydreigon would stop attacking the capture disc. Even Staraptor was getting attacked left, right and centre.  
While Cain thought the onslaught was amusing, he was losing his patience. He took out his Master Ball and unleashed the rocky golem from within; he had called forth Regirock. Keenan was taken aback.  
"Well, all of this has been extremely entertaining, but I must end this whole thing right here and now. Regirock..." Pidgeot flew down towards his master as Cain smirked. "Explosion."

**_BOOOOOOOM!_**

The entire room around Regirock was hit by a massive explosion. Pidgeot had wrapped his wings around Cain protectively, Hydreigon flew near the statue surrounded by a green sphere of translucent force field. Gengar and Ruby, being ghost type Pokémon, were immune to the blast. Keenan's Pokémon and Staraptor were all hit by the blast, as were, much to Miles and Ruby's horror, Keenan and Wendy themselves. Both humans hit their heads on the wall behind them, rendering them unconscious. The explosion gave both of them many superficial cuts and enourmous bruises. As the smoke faded from the room, all of the affected Pokémon were brutally hurt and knocked out. Cain looked back at Hydreigon.  
"Okay, you can do it now," he said. Hydreigon nodded and focused his attention on the icy statue. Hydreigon melted the statue with a large burst of fire. Regice mysteriously formed from the melted remains of the statue. Cain took out a second Master Ball from his coat pocket. Ruby flew towards Cain, furious and upset over what he had commanded from his Regirock.

_GRIP!_

"MISSSD!" Ruby shrieked as Gengar grabbed the little Pokémon in his hand, stopping her from stopping his master. Miles flew into the room in hopes of saving Ruby, but Gengar had released the frightened Misdreavus; Cain had already succeeded in capturing Regice. Regirock, Gengar and Hydreigon returned to their Poké Balls. Cain climbed onto Pidgeot's back and flew out of the demolished room, ignoring the Fearow and Misdreavus.

Inside the Chroma Ruins, meanwhile, Sven and Lily ran along a cave tunnel with many gleaming purple gems sticking out of the walls. Luxray ran at Sven's side whilst Chelsea was struggling to keep up with the group.  
"So Alexa was with you when you first came this way?" Lily asked, panting.  
"And Keith, yes ma'am," Sven nodded. "Who would've thought I'd be coming through here again?"  
"I just hope we're not too late," Lily panted.  
"Ga...nium," Chelsea replied breathlessly.

The group stopped as soon as they came across the silver statue Sven had described. A smile crept across Sven's face.  
"That's it!" he said. "So this is a Pokémon, huh? Doesn't look special."  
"Actually, I think Registeel's supposed to appear if the statue isn't there anymore," Lily assumed.  
"I guess all we can do now is wait," Sven sighed. "Say, Mrs Thorndyke, are you sure your Pokémon are ready for this?"  
"Chelsea might have to catch her breath first, but I'm sure they are, yes," Lily laughed. Chelsea sat down on the ground to rest briefly.  
Several minutes passed, but there was no sign of Cain. Chelsea was getting bored and Luxray was sitting patiently next to Sven, who was leaning against the wall, close to the statue. Sven had assumed that Cain had gone for Regice's statue first, but, since Keenan was headed for Almia Castle, he said nothing about it at the risk of worrying Lily. Sven kept his eye on Lily as she was talking with the rest of her Pokémon; Cheryl, the Gardevoir with the sapphire bangle on her wrist, Julia, the Miltank with a blue ribbon around her neck and Theo, the Houndoom with a red collar around his neck. Sven had several questions about Alexa he'd like to ask Lily, but decided against asking, not wanting to talk about a colleague behind her back. Luxray spotted a shadow headed their way and began to growl.  
"Hey-up, I think this is it," Sven said suddenly. Lily and her Pokémon stood up and looked at the shadow Luxray spotted. The Pokémon braced for battle while Sven signalled Lily to move over to him. Lily walked over to Sven just in time for Cain to come into plain sight. Cain laughed.  
"My I'm popular today. First an aerial chase and now a welcoming committee. How thoughtful," he said sarcastically.  
"This is anything but a party, kiddo. You may as well turn around right now," Sven warned.  
"That wouldn't be nice of me," Cain sighed as he took out one of his Master Balls and looked at it. "It'd be wrong of me to deprive Regice a little rehearsal." Sven's eyes widened.  
"Regice..? Wait, s-so you...?!"  
"They were pushovers," Cain huffed. "Especially that Top Ranger. I mean, teaming up with a kid? Come on, I doubt that'd help her credibility."  
"What have you done to them!?" Lily demanded furiously.  
"I didn't do anything. But I didn't see the damage being dealt," Cain shrugged as he pocketed the Master Ball in favour of two normal Poké Balls. "So excuse me if I can't divulge the answer to your question."

_POP-POP!_

Hydreigon and Pidgeot emerged from their Poké Balls, Pidgeot glittering as he appeared. Cain became serious.  
"But if you don't want to find out for yourselves, I suggest standing aside right now."  
"I don't think so. I'll fight tooth and nail to stop you from waking Registeel from its nap!" Sven declared.  
"So be it. Hydreigon, Pidgeot, attack."

Hydreigon and Pidgeot flew into action, but were immediately countered; Chelsea's vines choked Hydreigon's main head while a pink ball crashed into Pidgeot's head. Cain was less than amused; it was evident to him that Lily's Pokémon were stronger than Keenan's.

_HRRR!_

_THUMP!_

Theo leapt on top of Pidgeot and pinned him down. Theo dug his claws into Pidgeot's belly, causing small amounts of blood to seep from the pinned bird Pokémon. Gengar leapt from Cain's shadow and attempted to strike Theo. But another shadow appeared behind Gengar.

_WHACK!_

The Gardevoir shadow smacked Gengar in the back of the head, knocking the ghost down. Gengar looked up at the Gardevoir looming over him, looking down at him angrily. Gengar stood up and extended three claws made of pure dark aura. Cheryl wasn't worried; Julia had already leapt into the air.

"MIIII-MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILL!"

_SLAM!_

"Gen...gar...! Gengar was crushed under the weight of a fully grown Miltank. Julia rolled off of the flattened Gengar and laughed; Gengar was defeated in one hit. Sven whistled.  
"I would've thought you'd be better than that, Cain," he laughed. Cain begrudgingly recalled his defeated Gengar back into his Poké Ball.  
"Don't think you've won because ONE of my Pokémon couldn't handle a fat cow," Cain said nastily, picking out both of his Master Balls. "Let's see you handle these two!"

_POP-POP!_

Cain released Regirock and Regice from their respective Master Balls. Chelsea and Theo looked concerned; their main objective was to restrain Pidgeot and Hydreigon, they were worried about Cheryl and Julia.  
"Let's try. Julia, Rock Smash on Regice, Cheryl, Focus Blast on Regirock!" Lily exclaimed. Julia pulled her arm back, with her fist shining bright yellow, and Cheryl cupped her hands together as a ball of light blue energy began to form in between her palms.

_BANG! BOOM!_

Julia smacked Regice's body, just below the yellow Braille near the top of its...head? While Cheryl's energy sphere struck Regirock on one shoulder.

_HRRRRR!_

Theo took it upon himself to exhale a large pillar of blue fire from his mouth, which struck Regice's entire structre.  
"GANIUM!" Chelsea unleashed a barrage of multicoloured leaves from the flower around her neck, all of which struck Regirock's whole body. Sven looked optimistic.  
"So much for your precious golems helping you out!" Cain growled.  
"Regirock, Explosion!" he yelled angrily. Sven and Lily were horrified, but Regirock did as it was told.

**_BOOOOOOOM!_**

The whole cave was struck with a giant explosion, which sent Lily, Sven and the Pokémon flying further back into the cave. Miraculously, the entire cave remained intact, but Lily, Sven and the Pokémon, including Cain's, and even Cain himself, didn't get out of the explosion unscathed.  
"Now, Regice, Rock Slide!" Cain shouted. The Iceberg Pokémon complied willingly and slammed its chunky arms into the wall.

_RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!_

Rocks fell from the ceiling, which blocked the path, stopping Sven, Lily and their Pokémon from accessing the statue.  
"Pidgeot, let's get this over with!" Cain said angrily. Pidgeot stood up and complied, despite its wounds. Hydreigon, Regice and Regirock were also injured.  
"Ow..." Sven was the first to sit up. He looked around and spotted the landslide that blocked him from Cain. Lily also sat up, rubbing her head; both she and Sven were covered in superficial cuts and bruises, and their clothes were torn in various places. The Pokémon had also suffered similar injuries. Sven soon spotted Lily.  
"Lily! Are you okay?!"  
"I think so," Lily replied. She soon spotted the landslide. "Oh no..." Chelsea stood up and absorbed what sunlight she could absorb into the flower around her neck. She opened her mouth as a ball of yellow energy formed in the gap.

_BOOM!_

Chelsea's Solarbeam broke through the blockage, but it was too late; Registeel was already caught up in the Master Ball's red light and absorbed into the purple Poké Ball. The Master Ball, with Registeel inside, bounced back to Cain's hand. Sven was gutted, but Cain glared at him and Lily furiously.  
"Well this was a lot more trouble than it was worth! I think it's high time you paid the price," he said furiously as he unleashed his newly caught Registeel from its Master Ball. Chelsea and Cheryl stood in front of Lily and Sven; despite the condition they were in, they still had to fight.  
"Why're you doing this?!" Lily asked in horror.  
"As I said to the kid; it's none of your business. Regirock, Hyper Beam!" Cain shouted. The Braille pattern on Registeel's face shone in a bright light as a tremendous beam of orange light at the Pokémon.

**_BOOOOOM!_**

"So, wait, you think Cain's going about finding these golem thingies and making them fight his corner?" Keith questioned. He was meeting with Professor Hastings and Erma, but Alexa and Hayden were also present.  
"That's what Alexa assumed, dear," Erma nodded.  
"Sven and Wendy are out right now attempting to stop Cain's quest," Hastings added.  
"With Keenan and Lily?!"  
"They offered their services, yes," Hastings confirmed. "Cain's a Pokémon Trainer, it would be a suicide mission if I sent Sven and Wendy to confront the boy on their own."  
"I-It's not that...it just doesn't feel right that Keenan and Lily are involved in all of this now," Keith sighed.  
"Our thoughts exactly," Hayden agreed, wrapping an arm around his equally worried daughter. "But if push comes to shove, I'll fight him myself."  
"Let's just wait and see what Sven and Wendy have to report first, eh? I'd rather not go so far as to ask Alexa to confront that...Trainer, if that's what he calls himself," Hastings suggested.  
"With all due respect, in comparison to Cain's goals, and the consequences of them if he succeeds, my mental health shouldn't be high on the priority list."  
_Wait just a second here! You worked hard to get your mentality where it is now! Are you sure you want to compromise that if Cain does succeed? _Ryder asked in shock.  
"Duh... But maybe by confronting Cain, I can finally put what he's done behind me."  
_...huh. Never thought of that._  
"That's all well and good, dear, but, like the professor said, let's wait for Sven and Wendy to report in first," Erma said. Ryder folded his arms.  
_Hey, Alex, what happens if all three of these golem guys wake up anyway?_ he asked. Alexa looked towards him.  
"If that happens, then-"

_FWSSH!_

The main doors of the Ranger Union opened and, to everyone's horror, Sven, Wendy, Keenan and Lily walked into the building slowly. All four of them were wounded; Sven held Lily over his shoulder, Miles had Keenan on his back and Ruby helped Wendy walk painlessly with Telekinesis, as her eyes shone in the same bright pink aura that enveloped Wendy's entire being. Horrified, Alexa and Hayden ran towards Keenan and Lily.  
"What happened?! Is everyone all right!?" Hastings asked in horror.  
"I-I guess so," Keenan replied quietly. Alexa helped her brother off of Miles's back and lifted him in her arms, though not without effort. Hayden took Lily from Sven and supported her over his shoulder. Hayden was furious with the two Top Rangers.  
"I thought you were looking after them!" he fumed.  
"We tried..." Wendy coughed.  
"But he was merciless...if it weren't for the Pokémon, he'd have done more damage than he did," Sven added, somewhat breathlessly.  
"W-we barely made it back here in one piece," Wendy said weakly.  
"N-now he has all three," Sven coughed. Alexa was almost in tears at the sight of her brother and her mother in pain. She held Keenan a little tighter.  
"This is my fault...I'm so sorry...!"  
"It's not your fault, sweetheart," Lily said kindly.  
"If only that were true," Alexa said sadly.  
"It is," Hastings said in corroboration. "It was out of your hands." Rhythmi ran down the escalator, in a frantic state.  
"Professor! We're picking up strange activity from the Hippowdon Temple!" she exclaimed. The professor turned to her.  
"What kind of strange activity?" he asked.  
"I dunno, all we know is that some kind of whirlpool appeared somewhere in there!" Rhythmi replied. It didn't take long for Alexa to react in horror.  
"...Regigigas." Keith faced her in confusion.  
"Eh?"  
"When all three Hoenn golems are awake...so is Regigigas, the Colossal Pokémon said to have created the Hoenn golems. This is bad...Cain's after Regigigas!"  
_That's what you were going to say, right?_  
"Somewhat! It was an assumption until now!" Alexa cried.  
"Okay, that's it, I'm going to the Hippowdon Temple!" Keith insisted. "Cain's going too far!"  
"I'm going too, and I'm not taking no for an answer!"  
"Neither am I!" Hayden said firmly. Alexa looked towards her father in shock.  
"Dad..?"  
"I don't think that's a good idea, Mr Thorndyke," Hastings said with concern.  
"You thought it was a good idea for my wife to try and stop him, and look how that turned out!" Hayden yelled angrily. "This time, I'm going. I'd very much rather Alexa stay behind, but I'm afraid we'll need all of the help we can get."  
"Hayden...are you sure?" Lily asked worriedly. Hayden looked back at her.  
"Positive."  
"You do bring up a good point. Not to mention you and Alexa are the only trainers we have left." Hastings sighed. "What choice do we have? At this stage, we're desperate."  
"I'll keep an eye on him and Alexa," Keith offered.  
"You'll do no such thing," Hayden declined. Keith looked at him in astonishment. "If Regigigas is out before we get there, you'll need to focus on it, and it alone; let me keep an eye on Alexa while our Pokémon fight off Cain's."  
"Uh..there IS one thing I feel I should mention," Alexa said nervously. "Even though the Hoenn golems are bound by Cain's Master Balls, Regigigas can still control them. We'll need to be extra careful about that."  
"But once Regigigas is captured with the capture styler, that won't be a problem, right?"  
"Assuming we can save it before that happens," Alexa said quietly.  
"What, is Cain gonna capture it too?" Keith asked.  
"...something tells me Cain's not interested in capturing Regigigas..."  
"Then we have to leave now! There's so little time as it is!" Hayden stated.  
"Dad..." Hayden looked towards his wounded son. "Be careful."  
"We will," Hayden smiled.  
"Rhythmi?"  
"Yeah?" Rhythmi questioned as she ran over to Alexa. "What's up?"  
"Can you look after Keenan for me?"  
"What? Are you serious? E-even after-"  
"Yes, yes, whatever, there's no time for debates, Rhythmi, will you look after him or not?"  
"Y-yes, of course," Rhythmi agreed as she gently took Keenan from Alexa. "If it helps, take your aggression out on Cain."  
"Rhythmi, I'm not about to condone what I did," Alexa said, raising an eyebrow.  
"Come on!" Hayden exclaimed. He, Alexa, Ryder and Keith ran out of the Ranger Union. Professor Hastings looked concerned.  
"Best of luck to all of you."

Cain jumped down from a swirling pit of sand from the ceiling and landed feet first onto the ground. He looked ahead at the large stone door before him. He spotted three distinct pedestals in front of the door...and smirked.

A wild Staraptor and a Charizard sped across the desert and into the gaping mouth of the stone Hippowdon at the entrance of the temple. Hayden and Alexa rode on the Charizard's back while Keith rode on the Staraptor's back as they sped through the temple.  
"Urgh, this place brings back horrible memories," Keith shuddered.  
"Same, but there's no time to dwell on that," Alexa said. "We need to find Cain and stop him once and for all. Right, Phoenix?"  
"Rhhrrgh," the Charizard nodded in agreement. Keith soon spotted an almost eerie-looking pit of sand in the corner of his eye.  
"There!"  
"Keep your heads down; we're going in!" Hayden stated clearly.

_PFFFF!_

Staraptor and Phoenix penetrated the pit and flew onto the scene as quick as they could. Keith, Alexa and Hayden jumped off of their respective Pokémon and looked towards Cain. Staraptor flew away as everyone noticed that Regice and Regirock were already on their pedestals.  
"NO!" Alexa cried, but Registeel had already stepped onto its designated pedestal. All three pedestals began to shine, much to Cain's delight.  
"Finally..."

_FWOOOO!_

A huge gust of wind began blowing out from the room behind the gradually opening door. Phoenix held a claw over his eyes to watch the door opening, much like Keith did with his hand. Hayden used one arm to protect his eyes as he watched the door slowly opening and the other to hold Alexa, who was looking away from the door in mild fear, close to him. The wind blew Cain's hair back, revealing his other...and pale eye.

_To be continued..._


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty One – Final Clash pt 2**

Cain watched the large stone door opening with a twisted enthusiasm while the Hoenn Regis showed little to no interest.

_SLAM!_

A trio of large white fingers poked through the gap and gripped one of the doors. Alexa and Hayden watched in horror as a second trio of fingers gripped the other door. Cain grinned maniacally.

_BANG!_

The entire room vibrated as the large white golem Pokémon forcefully pushed the doors open. The white body with black markings, the mossy feet, the Braille on its golden face, the little extra bits of moss on its head, the three coloured gems on its body, the golden shoulder blades and wrist bands; it was undoubtedly Regigigas, the very Pokémon Cain wished to encounter so badly. And it was mad.

"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRGH!"

Regigigas roared with absolute fury, having been disturbed from what could have been a peaceful slumber.  
"I have longed for the day I challenged Regigigas," Cain began. "Its strength is the stuff of legend. Now I have the chance to experience that power for myself."  
"You had NO right to wake it up for battle!" Alexa shouted furiously. "Legendary Pokémon should be left in peace!" Cain turned around, revealing his pale eye to her, Keith and Hayden.  
"Legendary Pokémon hide because they're too scared to show their strength," he said accusingly.  
"Not necessarily; they hide for different reasons," Hayden explained calmly, unhindered by Cain's pale eye. "It just depends on the Pokémon, that's all; true, it might be because they're scared of human contact, but haven't you thought that they hide to protect humans and other Pokémon from their strength?"  
"Yes, and those are the pathetic ones," Cain said heartlessly. He looked back at his Pokémon. "Sick 'im."  
Instantly, Keith readied his styler and he, along with Buizel, moved to a better location. Alexa took the rest of her Poké Balls from her belt pouch while Hayden took all of his Poké Balls from his pouch.  
"You realise we're not going to let you get away with this, don't you?" Hayden asked.  
"Go ahead; call out your Pokémon! See if they can stop mine!" Cain dared.  
"That we will," Hayden confirmed, tossing his Poké Balls into the air. "You heard him! Let's go!"  
"Come on, guys, we need you!" Alexa exclaimed as she tossed hers up into the air.

_POP!_

All eleven Pokémon appeared from their Poké Balls at conveniently the exact same time. Keith watched as the group appeared; there were a couple he recognised, but he was still impressed with the group. The group that stood before Hayden was made up of Tidus, the fine-furred Typhlosion, Tristan, the Farfetch'd with a scarred beak, Clyde, the blue-eyed Electivire, Michaela, the yellow bodied red spined Sandslash, Malik, father of Keenan's Misdreavus and Jackson, the Krookodile who cherishes his yellow scarf. Alexa's group compiled of Phoenix, the alpha male Charizard, Nando, the swimmer Nidoking, Ronan, the Golduck with a scarred tail, Layla, the glittering dancer Zangoose, Kadia, the wild-cat Persian and, of course, Ryder, the fluffy Prussian blue Lucario. Cain looked back at the groups.  
"Let's see those do any better than the others I fought today," Cain said coldly. Ryder was the only Pokémon who showed remote interest in Cain's eye.  
_Dude, what's up with your eye? Looks creepy..._  
"Oh, this?" Cain asked, pointing to his pale eye. "Yeah, that Arbok didn't like my Pokémon killing off its clan. Spitting acid in my eye was its first and last mistake. Because of that, I can no longer see in that eye."  
"...Exactly how long have you been on this rampage?!" Hayden asked with disgust. Cain shrugged.  
"Lost count."  
_What happened to Arbok?_  
"Let me guess," Keith sighed. "You killed it?!"  
"No, no...Arbok got OBLITERATED," Cain replied, with a sickening smirk across his face. Alexa, Hayden and Keith were digusted. Ryder, however, was confused.  
_What's obliterated mean?_ Cain's smirk grew with sickening delight.  
"Well, in Arbok's case...the only thing left of it, when Hydreigon was finished with it...was its skull..." Phoenix growled deeply.

"RHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

With the mighty roar, the Pokémon all complied with the Charizard's command to attack Cain's Pokémon. Hydreigon, Gengar and Pidgeot came forth from their Poké Balls and intercepted most of the small army.  
"Listen up! You must stop them from hurting Regigigas! It's up to you!" Hayden called.  
"Don't hurt the smaller Regis!" Alexa added.  
_You got it, sister! Let's rock!_  
"Capture...ON!" Keith fired his capture disc at the gargantuan Pokémon as soon as the war between Cain's Pokémon, the Regis, and Alexa and Hayden's Pokémon had begun.

Elsewhere, Lily and Keenan were at the Ranger Union, receiving medical treatment. Their Pokémon sat around the entire room, with bandages all over their bodies, with the exception of Miles, who managed to avoid the onslaught his comrades faced. Erma was also present, concerned for the mother and son, as well for their Pokémon.  
"Do you think Dad and Alex are gonna be okay?" Keenan asked worriedly.  
"I'd rather not think the worst," Lily said quietly.  
"Don't worry, dears, I'm certain Keith is looking after them," Erma said with a reassuring smile. "He hasn't failed Alexa yet, and I'm certain he won't start now."  
"Well, I take comfort in believing that Hayden and Alexa will look out for one another. The two are very close," Lily smiled feebly.  
"Besides, Alex has Phoenix with her. Cain's not gonna succeed this time!" Keenan said optimistically.  
"Who, dear?" Erma asked.  
"He's Alexa's Charizard," Lily explained. "He's the strongest of all her Pokémon, as well as the one who's known her the longest."  
"Alex switched Ellie-May-Jan for Phoenix because Ellie-May-Jan sprained her ankle the other day," Keenan explained. "But I guess Alex had a hunch that Cain would show his true colours, which is why she chose Phoenix to take Ellie-May-Jan's place." Erma smiled.  
"Well, now I'm most certainly confident that Alexa and your father will succeed. So a trainer's first Pokémon is the most faithful?"  
"Not necessarily; a Pokémon's faith in their trainer depends on the trust between the two," Lily explained.  
"You're more familiar with Ryder, right, ma'am?" Keenan asked.  
"Yes, dear. Why do you ask?" Erma asked.  
"Then he's the best example; Alexa hatched him from an egg and has raised and bonded with him ever since," Lily smiled. Erma smiled again.  
"That's wonderful."

_Meanwhile..._

Regigigas continually swatted Pokémon after Pokémon away from him, as well as the capture disc occasionally. Jackson, with claws shining white, climbed hastily along the cave wall in an attempt to get close to the irate Pokémon. Jackson leapt from the ceiling with his large jaws wide open.

_NOM!_

"GROOOOAARGH!" Regigigas roared in pain as Jackson's teeth dug into the golem's arm.  
"Jackson, don't aim for Regigigas!" Hayden shouted. The Krookodile looked back at his trainer and, with mild embarrassment, released his jaw from Regigigas's arm.  
"Heh-heh... RAAAAAARGH!" Jackson leapt from Regigigas's arm, narrowly avoiding a potential migraine courtesy of Regigigas's large hand slamming on its arm, and took a bite out of Pidgeot's shoulder instead. Squawking in pain, the golden bird began to fall to the ground.

_SLASH!_

Pidgeot cawed in agony as Tristan sliced Pidgeot's belly with his leek emitting a purple aura in the shape of what appeared to be a scythe. Pidgeot's blood splattered across the Farfetch'd's face, but Gengar emerged from the shadows beneath the struggle as Tristan prepared a second strike.

_SLASH!_

"FAAAAAAAR!" Tristan dropped his leek as Gengar's razor-sharp claws struck his back. Some of the bird's blood spilled onto Gengar's clean teeth, but the ghost Pokémon licked the blood away, seemingly admiring the taste of Farfetch'd blood.  
Ryder attempted to duel with Hydreigon from the ground, while Phoenix and Malik covered the air. Hydreigon was more intent on challenging the Charizard and saw the Mismagius and Lucario as inconveniences. Hydreigon became enveloped in a blue-white glow as he charged at Phoenix. Phoenix dodged and Ryder braced for impact, but then spotted all three sets of jaws burning with intense flames. Ryder spotted the ground in front of him rising.

_SMACK!_

Kadia leapt from the earth and clapped Hydreigon's main head with both paws, negating both of its attacks at once. Ryder then spotted Michaela leaping from behind the flinching dragon, with her right claws glistening in a bright glow. Ryder smirked as his dominant paw shone in the same glow.

_SLAM!_

Both Michaela and Ryder landed their Brick Break attacks directly on Hydreigon's back. Hydreigon flew back into the air, knocking the Lucario and Sandslash to the ground. Ryder laughed.  
_This is easy!_

_BANG-BANG-BANG!_

Ryder, Kadia and Michaela watched as Clyde, Ronan and Nando were pushed back as a result of Regice, Registeel and Regirock's collective attacks.  
_...oh, right. Forgot about them._

_SMACK!_

_Ow!_ Ryder rubbed the back of his head as Michaela smacked him lightly with her claws. She and Kadia returned underground. Ryder shook himself off and proceeded to tackle Gengar.

Each and every time Regigigas takes a step, it emits shockwaves from its feet. The vibration from the waves causes the rocks hanging from the ceilings to shake and eventually fall. The Pokémon were forced to dodge the rocks as they fall, as did Alexa, Hayden and Keith from time to time. The humans, minus Cain for some weirdly miraculous reason, received minor damage from the environment alone.  
"If this keeps up, we'll be buried alive here!" Hayden exclaimed after he and his daughter avoided yet another rock that fell from above their heads.  
"I doubt Cain's bothered about the lack of space we're all battling in!" Alexa stressed.  
"I shouldn't think he cares at all, given what he's done! No human with even half a conscience would even think of following his example!"  
Regigigas slammed his foot down in a fit of rage, causing rocks to fly up from the ground. Clyde, Ronan, Nando and Ryder were affected the most, but Kadia, Layla and Michaela were pushed up from underground as a result of the attack. Alexa and Hayden tried to dodge, but neither one anticipated the fissure's path.  
A rock shot up from the ground underneath Hayden's knee, knocking him into the air and slamming down hard on his back. Malik and Tidus were horrified at what had happened to their trainer, but Alexa was horrified the most.  
"DAD!" she cried as she made her way over the rocks to her father's aid. Malik and Phoenix used projectile attacks to demolish the rocks Regigigas had created. Tidus was furious; his neck flames burned with further intensity as he roared in absolute anger. Somewhat ignoring Hayden's earlier instruction to Jackson, Tidus sprinted, on all fours, towards Regigigas, engulfed in his own fire.

_BANG!_

Tidus roared in pain as a simple kick from the large golem sent him flying all the way to the other side of the room. Jackson slid in front of Tidus's path and caught the flying Typhlosion.  
"Dad! Are you okay?!" Alexa cried anxiously. Hayden groaned as he struggled to sit himself up. He inspected the damage to his leg; there was a large bleeding cut on his thigh, and was fortunate to get away from the impact without a broken bone.  
"I'll be fine, sweetheart," he said with a weak smile.

_SLAM!_

"Whaaaaaaa!" Alexa looked at Keith in horror as she heard his agonised cries; Regigigas had emitted a shockwave that struck the young Top Ranger. Buizel, who clung to his patner's shoulder, escaped the attack unharmed.  
"KEITH!"  
"I-I'm okay!" Keith called to the highly distressed Alexa. Tears in her eyes, Alexa turned her attention to the disgustingly amused Cain.  
"Cain, please, you have to stop this!" she pleaded.  
"NO! Not until Regigigas falls before me!"  
"If you don't stop, everyone's going to get hurt, which will include you!" Alexa yelled.  
"I doubt that very much," Cain said snidely.  
Keith looked back at Alexa, concerned about her; he was beginning to understand what Barlow meant. He suddenly noticed a rock above Alexa's head beginning to break.  
"LOOK OUT!" he shouted. Phoenix, however, had spotted the rock before Keith had and already had an idea. As the rock began to fall, he flew over to it and swatted it with his tail. Alexa watched as the rock struck Hydreigon's main head, halting his potential attack on the wounded Nidoking and Electivire.  
"Rhhrrrrrgh!" Phoenix's roar caught Malik and Tristan's attention as they flew up to the Charizard. The three communicated with one another and eventually nodded in mutual agreement.  
Hayden looked around the area; blood stained the sand and stone all around them, most of the Pokémon, including Phoenix himself, were bleeding and most were panting, some more heavily than others.  
"Everyone's getting tired. Except the four Regis, it seems," he noted. Alexa was horrified at the sight before them.  
"And Regigigas is getting more agitated. I don't think Keith and the Pokémon can last much longer!" she panicked.

Hastings, Sven and Wendy approached Erma, who, along with Keenan and Lily, were growing more concerned; almost two hours had passed since Alexa, Keith and Hayden left to challenge Cain, but no word had arrived regarding their status.  
"What's taking them so long...?" Wendy asked quietly.  
"Let's not forget that they're most likely battling against Regigigas," Hastings began. "I highly doubt they'd be able to triumph over such a powerful Pokémon so easily, regardless of how well trained Alexa and Mr Thorndyke's Pokémon are."  
"But if we got hurt from facing Cain, don't you think that they...might also be...?" Sven trailed off, not wanting to finish his own question.  
"I'd much rather believe that all three of them will come back alive," Lily said, breaking the awkward silence.  
"Three? Does that include Keith?" Hastings asked.  
"No, I meant Cain," Lily sighed sarcastically. "Of course I meant Keith!" she exclaimed. Keenan looked at his mother with concern; while he found her sarcasm amusing, he knew she only uses sarcasm when she was extremely anxious and or worried about something or someone.

Pidgeot flew into Jackson and Tidus with shining wings. His wings struck the two Pokémon just below their throats, causing the pair to cough up blood.  
Nando, Ronan, Michaela and Clyde tried and tried to attack Gengar, but the ghost hopped between their shadows, attacking each one on every turn, sometimes from the back, sometimes from the front. Each Pokémon, however, all experienced the pain of a Gengar slash for themselves. The Pokémon fumbled each and every time they failed to attack Gengar.  
Hydreigon was battling in the sky, attempting to fight off Phoenix, Malik and Tristan. Ryder kept focusing on Hydreigon from the ground, while Kadia and Layla tried their hardest to fight off Cain's Pidgeot, but kept getting hit by Regice, Registeel and Regirock's projectile attacks. Even Pidgeot, Gengar and Hydreigon had to be wary of the Regis; they were under Regigigas's control, despite being bound by Cain's Master Balls.  
Keith struggled to prevent his capture disc getting damaged by Regigigas's attacks, but his attempts were proving fruitless; he was exhausted from constantly dodging the shockwaves and the falling rocks from above. Even Buizel's Pokémon Assist power wasn't helping; the little Pokémon was out of energy to produce more Water based attacks.  
Alexa and Hayden had to keep avoiding the falling rocks, but they found it harder to do so each time; their clothes were torn and had received further damage from the environment and Regigigas's fissure attack. Hayden counted himself lucky he was still able to walk, but Alexa was becoming emotionally unstable; she had assumed her battling days were behind her and she resorted to battling in hopes of stopping Cain from achieving his goals.  
Oddly enough, Cain was completely unscathed. He was well out of the way of the battle, amused at the disadvantage his foes were in.  
"GROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!" Regigigas roared with tremendous might as it flexed its muscles; it seemed to have gotten stronger.

_BOOM!_

Regigigas stomped its foot down hard on the ground, creating another fissure and causing more rocks to fall from the ceiling. Every single Pokémon, excluding the smaller Regis, were affected by the attack; the rocks knocked the flying Pokémon out of the sky, the fissure caused the burrowing Pokémon to burst from the ground and the rest of the Pokémon were knocked down by either the fissure or from the rocks they weren't able to dodge in time. Keith was hit by the shockwave Regigigas's stomp emitted and crashed into the wall, leaving him barely conscious. Alexa and Hayden had a hard time struggling to avoid the rocks above them, but one had struck Alexa's back while she avoided another. Ryder, barely conscious himself, used a weak Aura Sphere to destroy the rock on Alexa's back as she fell to the ground. Horrified, Hayden helped Alexa back up as carefully as he could. "Are you all right?!"  
"I-I guess so..." Alexa replied weakly. She looked around at the battleground; even more blood stained the once beautiful temple sand and stone and even Cain's Pokémon were at their wits end. Alexa was getting more and more panicky very quickly; it was hard enough for her to see so many Pokémon in near critical conditions, but seeing Keith barely conscious made her dangerously close to losing her already fragile state of mind.  
Hayden was astonished to find that all of the Pokémon, despite their wounds, were still keen to keep fighting. Even Keith was eager to keep trying to capture Regigigas with his capture disc before Cain captured it with a probable fourth Master Ball or, worse still, kill the titan. Keith struggled to his feet and regained control of his capture disc, with his determination to defeat Cain still fresh on his mind.  
Regice, Registeel and Regirock continued to protect Regigigas, despite the clear fact that none of the Pokémon, including Cain's, were going to attack the Colossal Pokémon; Cain's Pokémon were far too preoccupied with Alexa and Hayden's Pokémon, who had attracted their attention and were preventing the bloodthirsty Pokémon from even looking at the giant.  
On the verge of being in a state of total panic, Alexa frantically searched her belt pouch; all she found was empty spray bottles and the six Poké Balls belonging to her Pokémon. Alexa hyperventilated as she looked at the battle once again.  
"I-It's no use...we're out of healing items!" she panicked. "N-nobody's going to last much longer at this rate!"  
"Stay calm, Lexie," Hayden advised softly.  
"How?! Look around, Dad, even Cain's Pokémon are at their last ounce of energy! We can't give our Pokémon the energy they need to keep going, and it's not over yet!"  
"Precisely," Hayden smiled. "Everyone wants to keep fighting because Cain hasn't won yet. And they're determined to keep him from winning."  
"B-but..."  
The Pokémon were out of energy to use their proper attacks, so the battle turned into a grudge match, with fists, fangs, claws, wings and anything else they could use as mêlée weapons. All of the Pokémon struck one another, causing blood to fly across the room, further staining the arena.  
Keith's capture disc was losing its power as his styler was low on energy. Regardless, Keith was extremely persistent and strived to continue his attempts to capture the gargantuan Regi, even if his styler broke trying.  
Despite their low battling energy, Cain's Pokémon were still tough to take down. Hydreigon was still ruthless and unfair in his attacks, Pidgeot was merciless and Gengar was still conniving. The eleven opposing Pokémon had to pull together all of what energy they had left merely to dodge an attack.  
"...I-I don't know how long we'll last..." Alexa said sadly. "They can't keep dodging forever...and Regigigas's power is at its peak..."  
"Don't panic, sweetheart," Hayden smiled. He looked towards his Electivire, who had only just managed to dodge Gengar's shadowy slash. "Say, Clyde! How about giving Keith a boost?"  
"Lec?" Clyde looked back at Hayden before looking towards Keith. Clyde smiled at Hayden, instantly understanding what he was asking. The antennae on his head began to spark. "LEC!"  
"Huh?" Keith looked towards Clyde in confusion, but saw that the Electivire had already released a small bolt of electricity from his antennae. The lightning bolt struck Keith's styler, charging it to full power. As the styler recharged, Keith noticed the change in the capture disc's energy. Puzzled, Keith looked towards Hayden, who gave Keith a very serious look.  
"It's down to you, Keith! Capture Regigigas and it's all over!" he shouted. Keith nodded.  
"Not in this lifetime," Cain whispered spitefully. "I will NOT lose! Hydreigon! Get him!" he shouted, pointing to Keith.  
"NO!" Alexa cried. Hydreigon and Phoenix, having heard to absurd command, raced towards Keith, who tried to pay his full attention on Regigigas. Eventually, Phoenix managed to get ahead of Hydreigon and intercepted the brutal hydra. A brief scuffle ensued as a result of Phoenix's attempt to protect Keith. Cain was less than amused.  
"Pidgeot, Gengar, GET HIM!" he shouted furiously. Pidgeot and Gengar flew towards Keith, and Phoenix was ready to burn them.

"There!" Keith exclaimed joyously; the capture disc served its purpose. Cain watched in horror as the white ring around Regigigas shrunk and engulfed the giant Pokémon, instantly calming it down.  
"NO!"  
Alexa and Hayden were ecstatic about Keith's success, while all of the Pokémon, including Cain's, were all just glad they no longer had to fight.  
_Whew. Best. Exercise. Ever!_ Ryder rejoiced.

_SMACK!_

_Ow..!_ Ronan slapped Ryder on the back of the head. Ryder rubbed his head and glared at Ronan, who raised an eyebrow at the cocky Lucario. _Okay, see your point..._  
Keith recalled his capture disc and instantly ran over to the slightly wounded Hayden and Alexa.  
"Are you okay?"  
"We'll be fine," Hayden smiled. "Won't we, Lexie?"  
"Y-yeah," Alexa nodded. "But, wow...it's over...I can't believe it's finally over!"  
"About damn time too," Keith agreed.  
"See, Lexie? I told you not to panic," Hayden said. Alexa looked up at her father.  
"Yeah. Thanks, Dad."  
Cain reluctantly recalled his three main Pokémon back to their Poké Balls, leaving the Regis out, and glared furiously at Hayden, Alexa and Keith.  
"You..." The three looked towards the irate Cain. "You took away my chance to challenge Regigigas...I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled, running mainly towards Alexa. Hayden held onto her, but Keith stepped in front of them both.

_THUMP!_

"G'uh...!" Cain's eyes widened and his breathing was momentarily cut off as Keith kneed the half-blind boy in his private area. Hard.  
"That was for all of the hell you've put my girlfriend through. Bastard," Keith whispered threateningly. Keith lowered his knee as Cain fell to the sand. As Keith released Regigigas from the styler's metaphorical grip, Ryder staggered towards the fallen Cain and pickpocketed the three Master Balls.  
_You won't be needing these anymore,_ Ryder smirked. He began walking towards Regigigas, passing the smaller Regis along the way. _Pardon me, fellas._ He then placed the three Master Balls in front of Regigigas and looked up at it. _Say, Big Guy, think you can crush these for me? They had your triplets in 'em._

_SMASH!_

Regigigas, granting Ryder's wish, stomped on the Master Balls. Even a light stomp was enough to demolish the three Poké Balls. Ryder smiled at the large docile Regi.  
_Thanks, Dude. You look after yourself now._ Regigigas nodded towards the Lucario and began to slowly make its way back to its room.  
Regice, Registeel and Regirock, now free from the murderous Pokémon Trainer, left the chamber freely. The Pokémon waved them farewell as they left, even though the golems paid no attention to the send-off. Alexa walked over to Keith.  
"Keith?" Keith turned around.  
"Yeah?" Alexa embraced the young Ranger, planting a gentle, but brief, kiss on his lips. She smiled at him.  
"I don't know how to thank you."  
"Well, Cain deserved it after-"  
"Not that. You single-handedly ceased all of this chaos. Thank you...!" Almost bursting into tears, Alexa tightened her grip on Keith slightly; while the occasion was one to celebrate, Alexa had mixed feelings about the entire experience. Keith held onto her gently and lightly rubbed his head against hers.  
Hayden noticed Michaela, Kadia, Layla and Ronan moving over to Cain. He laughed when the four Pokémon sat on his back.  
"That's very good!"  
"Sand-slash!" Michaela saluted towards Hayden. Keith and Alexa carefully broke their embrace. Hayden limped over to Alexa and gently took her from Keith as he established a communication with his styler.

"Keith here. It's over. Cain's finally at our mercy."

Upon hearing the words they longed to hear, Sven, Wendy, Lily and Keenan rejoiced. Erma was delighted and Hastings was proud.  
"Oh that is such wonderful news, dear!" Erma said happily, through Hastings' communicator. "Is everyone all right?"  
"The Pokémon fought hard, and have the scars to prove it," Keith began. "Dunno why Cain was the only one unharmed until after Regigigas's capture. But nothing too serious, I don't think."  
"That's fantastic news. Now, Keith, bring Cain, Alexa, Mr Thorndyke and yourself to the Ranger Base in Haruba Village. While you await our arrival, use the time to rest. You've earned it."  
"Acknowledged," Keith said before ending his communication. Keenan looked puzzled.  
"Hang on...'our' arrival?" Hastings smiled at Keenan.  
"I'll be asking Barlow to accompany me in collecting Cain. Meanwhile, a family reunion is in order."

At the Haruba Ranger Base, after a relatively slow flight, Hayden, Alexa and Keith are all getting their injuries seen to by the medical staff. Alexa was the only one not in the room. Cain sat in one corner, rope tied around his torso and arms, highly disgruntled.  
"I could've had that Regigigas...the lower Regis were mine!" he complained. Hayden looked at him through the corner of his eye. "That Regigigas was going to die by my hand! Why did you stop me?!"  
"Do you seriously need me to answer that?" Hayden sighed as he looked away from Cain. "You've already killed Arceus knows how many Pokémon during your rampage, threatened my daughter and have caused harm to my family. Did you seriously think the Ranger Union was going to let your tantrum continue?"  
"Well maybe those Pokémon wouldn't have died if they were stronger," Cain growled.  
"Come on, the strength of your victims has nothing to do with it! You were the one pitting all of your Pokémon against one wild Pokémon to kill it!" Keith exclaimed as a nurse proceeded to wrap a bandage around Keith's shin.  
"Fuck you!" Cain shouted angrily. "My reasons for what I've done have nothing to do with you!"  
"So what ARE your reasons then?" Hayden asked. "How do you justify stealing the lives of the Pokémon yours have killed?"  
"Fuck you too!" Cain yelled. "Fuck your fucking daughter as well!"  
"Why I oughta-!"  
"Easy, Keith; anyone who resorts to using profanity clearly doesn't have good vocabulary," Hayden said calmly.  
"Fuck you..." Cain said snidely.  
Alexa and another nurse entered the main foyer from another room; Alexa had a few plasters on her face and arms, but her bandages were underneath her orange T-shirt. Her trousers were torn near her ankles and her grey body warmer had become torn during the struggle as well. She smiled at Hayden and Keith, who, in turn, were smiling at her.  
"You okay?" Hayden asked. Alexa nodded.  
"I think so," she replied. Despite her smile, she sounded fairly uncertain. Keith knew her emotions were conflicting, but he was just happy to see her on the mend.  
The base doors opened. Keith, Alexa and Hayden watched as Hastings, Barlow, Lily and Keenan walked in. Lily and Hayden immediately ran over to Hayden and Alexa, and formed a famliy hug. Alexa was almost in tears, and she bore a shaky smile; she was trying to be happy to see her mother and little brother, but couldn't help feeling guilty about them having been hurt by Cain's hand. Keith approached Barlow and Hastings.  
"Good to see you're all okay," Barlow smiled. Keith lost his smile as he looked back at Alexa.  
"Not all of us are." He looked back at Barlow, who was looking at him in puzzlement. "I think you're right about the sick leave thing."  
"I see..."  
"Let her be with her family for the moment," Hastings smiled. He lost his smile as he looked towards the tied up boy in the corner of the base and approached him, as did Keith and Barlow.  
"So, you're the one killing innocent Pokémon, eh? Are you satisfied with the blood you've spilled?" Hastings asked angrily.  
"Regigigas would have contributed if it weren't for the blonde bleeding heart and her stupid father," Cain said nastily.  
"Hey, I was in on it too! Jerk," Keith pouted.  
"And that "bleeding heart" happens to be one of the finest young Top Rangers the Ranger Union has ever had. You, on the other hand, cannot call yourself a Pokémon Trainer," Hastings said.  
"Hah! And you would know?!" Cain laughed.  
"It's true the concept of Pokémon Trainers is new to me, but I know enough about them to know that good trainers treat their Pokémon like friends, not minions," Hastings stated. "And they certainly don't murder other Pokémon, least of all their own. I have Alexa and her family to thank for making that clear to me."  
"Professor, should I take this clown to the boat?" Barlow asked. "I think it'd be best if he settled down in there before the rest of us get aboard."  
"Indeed. Get this boy out of my sight," Hastings insisted. Barlow pulled Cain up by his coat and practically dragged him out of the base. Hastings and Keith approached Alexa and her family. "Is everyone all right?" he asked.  
"Nothing's broken," Hayden replied.  
"How were you in there?" Lily asked with concern. Hayden let out a sigh.  
"Touch and go. The area was far too small for a proper battle, and with the number of Pokémon around...Alexa and I had to avoid the room crashing down on us."  
"Alexa looks fine to me?" Hastings said in confusion.  
"A rock landed on my back," Alexa said quietly. "Like Dad said, we had to avoid the room crashing on us."  
"And Regigigas didn't make that a simple task," Hayden added, looking at his leg; he could see the bandage behind the large cut in his trouser leg.  
"Nor did the smaller Regis," Alexa added. "Cain had no control over them, Regigigas controlled them for protection; they attacked almost any Pokémon that tried to attack Regigigas."  
"Except Jackson; he struck Regigigas from above, thinking it was the one he needed to fight," Hayden continued.  
"How many Pokémon did you have between you?" Hastings asked.  
"Twelve," Hayden answered. "My six and Alexa's six."  
"My word...that's quite a lot of Pokémon for such a small space," Hastings said in awe. "I'm surprised you and Alexa didn't get hurt any worse than you did."  
"My thoughts exactly," Hayden agreed. "Regardless, I think Keith gets the credit for putting a successful end to the whole mess."  
"No doubt," Alexa smiled. "The Pokémon were all down to their last ounce of strength by the time Keith captured Regigigas, and its strength was at its peak at that point."  
"I certainly recognise Keith's effort in this, as much as I recognise your efforts, Alexa. Yours and that of your father...no...that of your family," Hastings smiled.  
"What did we do? We failed," Keenan sighed.  
"Not necessarily," Hastings smiled. "Your efforts weakened Cain's Pokémon."  
"Provided we even put up a fight," Keenan pouted.  
"My Pokémon put up a fairly strong resistance prior to Regirock's Explosion attack," Lily said.  
"Hey, that's how he defeated me and Wendy too!" Keenan said suddenly.  
"Well, the important thing is Cain's in our custody until we get back to Puel Docks." Barlow arrived at the base.  
"Boat's ready," he said.  
"Excellent. Shall we?"

The boat travelled steadily across the ocean. Hastings, Keith, Alexa, Keenan, Hayden and Lily all sat above deck, admiring the beautiful oceanic scenery. Keenan's attention was focused on the ocean itself, as Iara, somewhat recovered from her wounds, swam merrily alongside the boat. Barlow arrived from the lower deck.  
"Cain's below deck, but he ain't going anywhere," he said. Iara dived underwater and Keenan watched in amusement.  
"Excellent," Hastings smiled.  
"By the way, what became of Cain's Empoleon?" Alexa asked suddenly.  
"Cain released him, so he's free to do as he pleases," Lily explained happily.  
"Released?" Alexa asked. Iara surfaced, but on the back of a wild Mantyke. Keenan laughed happily at the sight.  
"He said Cain wanted to test Gengar's power. But it wasn't enough to kill him, so Cain just abandoned him. Hence the state he was in when Chelsea and I found him in the forest," Lily explained. Keenan looked back at his mother.  
"I guess Cain didn't know that Steel type Pokémon resist Ghost type attacks," he guessed before watching his Vaporeon again.  
"Whatever the reason, I'm just glad Cain won't do any more harm," Keith said with relief. Hayden nodded in agreement.  
"Regigigas is alive, Ryder released the Hoenn golems...all in all, a highly satisfying end."  
"Indeed," Hastings agreed. "A mission cleared with flying colours, I must say," he said proudly. Iara jumped off of Mantyke's back and began to dolphin jump across the water.  
"No arguments from me! Hey, Alex, sorry I treated ya like a disobedient preschooler," Barlow apologised.  
"I understand why you did, though; you were worried that I was going to go after Cain after he caught Regirock," Alexa guessed.  
"Yeah, and if I knew you were going to confront him anyway, I wouldn't have treated you like that. I'm sorry," Barlow said regretfully.  
"It's okay. I should be the one apologising for being so out of line," Alexa said.  
"We needed to look at the bigger picture, Alexa, and I, for one, wish to apologise for being so blind," Hastings apologised.  
"Don't worry about it. The main thing is it's all over. And now I can put my sanity back together in peace," Alexa smiled nervously. Keith placed an arm around her.  
"I'm happy for you, babe." Keenan looked back at the conversation again.  
"What's going to happen when we moor at the docks?" he asked.  
"Ah, the International Police will take him off our hands," Hastings explained. "I presume then he'll be charged in accordance to the crimes he's committed."  
"So we won't see him again?" Barlow questioned.  
"Not unless he somehow decides to become a Pokémon Ranger, which will be highly unlikely, given how he's treated some of them, no, we will not," Hastings replied.  
"YES!" Keith rejoiced.

The sun was setting by the time Puel Town was even remotely in sight. Keenan watched his Vaporeon swimming merrily in the ocean, but she soon climbed aboard. She and Keenan looked around at the other wild Pokémon in the area, including the flock of Wingull flying above them. In the distance, Keenan could've sworn he saw a Dragonair leaping gracefully out of the ocean. He certainly recognised the serpentine silhouette, and there was no physical way he could mistake it for a Milotic. Keenan smiled.

_To be continued..._


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty Two – A Happy Ending**

The sun was beginning to set over the oceanic scenery, as the sky took on a romantic orange tint. A brown police boat made its way out of the harbour, while Keith, Barlow, Hastings and the Thorndyke family watched it disappearing into the distance.  
"That takes care of him," Barlow said proudly.  
"Doesn't it just. Well, I think we'll make our way back to the village now," Hayden said, somewhat eagerly.  
"Are you sure? You and your family would be more than welcome to spend the night at the Ranger Union," Hastings offered.  
"Thanks, but it won't be necessary," Hayden smiled. "I know a shortcut through the forest, so we'll be there before nightfall."  
"If you insist. Take care."  
"I'll make sure of that, Professor," Alexa said kindly. She looked towards Keith, bearing a warm smile. "Thanks for everything you've done today."  
"Heh. I don't think it would've been possible had it not been for your Pokémon," Keith smiled. "You and Hayden sure have a strong group of Pokémon."  
"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow?"  
"Definitely," Keith nodded. Alexa smiled again.  
"Great. See you then." She and her family started to make their way out of the docks. On her way, however, Keith, grabbed Alexa's arm gently and pulled her in close for a sneaky peck on her lips. Alexa ruffled his hair a little before catching up with her parents and little brother. Barlow laughed.  
"Didn't take you for such a Casanova, Keith!" Keith laughed nervously.  
"I believe we can all rest easy, knowing that Cain is finally being dealt with by the authorities," Hastings said happily. "I have been informed that I will have further information regarding his fate tomorrow."  
"That soon?" Barlow questioned.  
"I've been given their word that they will deal with him immediately," Hastings explained. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they're beginning to deal with him as we speak."  
"That's not surprising, given everything he's done," Keith mused. "I mean, it all happened rather quickly, and I guess they wanted him to be punished for his crimes as soon as the opportunity came along."  
"Precisely," Hastings nodded.  
"Will there be anything else, professor?" Barlow asked.  
"No, no, Keith and I can return to the Ranger Union on our own from here, you're free to return to Vien Town," Hastings replied. "I will inform you on the details about Cain as soon as I hear them."  
"Thanks; Luana's been having kittens since Buneary got attacked. I'll tell her and Crawford it's all over," Barlow said before running off. Keith was left confused.  
"Having kittens...?"  
"It's a figure of speech," Hastings explained. "He means Luana's lost her composure."  
"Oh. Can't say I blame her. I almost lost mine when Buizel was hurt."  
"Bui..."  
"At any rate, shall we?" Keith and Hastings walked away from the pier, destined for the Ranger Union.

_Elsewhere..._

"Honey, are you sure you're all right?" Lily asked with concern, noticing Hayden's slight limp.  
"Yes, I'm fine," Hayden replied. "It's just a scratch, that's all. Aagh...!"  
"But it's clearly giving you grief," Lily said worriedly.  
"Are you sure you don't want Darcy to give you a lift?" Keenan asked.  
"Thanks, but, no, I'm fine," Hayden insisted.  
"How about if I find a crutch or something for you tomorrow?" Alexa suggested. "It might help ease the pain."  
"Hm. That might work. Okay, I'll agree to that," Hayden smiled. "Thanks, Lexie."

The Thorndykes finally made it to the peaceful Chicole Village. As Hayden had predicted, the night was beginning to loom over the region, as the orange glow faded to allow the night sky to sink in. Keenan ran, as careful as he could, to the front door of the house, but noticed a gold coloured envelope sitting perfectly on the door handle. Hayden, Lily and Alexa caught up with him.  
"What's that, sweetie?" Lily asked as Keenan took the envelope in one hand. He turned it around to look at the back; a red rose sticker kept the envelope sealed.  
"Beats me."

_The next day..._

Hastings and Erma, in the Conference Room, stood in front of Keith, Sven and Wendy. Wendy had a sling on one arm and Sven had a bandage around his head, mostly hiding under his hat. Keith's injuries healed beautifully.  
"I've received word from the International Police," Hastings began. "Cain's trial will take place at the Sinnoh Crown Court."  
"I didn't know Sinnoh had a court," Sven queried, raising an eyebrow.  
"It's in Veilstone City," Hastings explained. "It was formerly Team Galactic's main base of operation. After Team Galactic activity suddenly stopped in the region three years ago, the International Police took over the headquarters and converted it into the Sinnoh Crown Court." Keith's eyes widened ever so slightly; the small detail, 'three years ago', made him instantly think about Alexa and her past involvement with the criminal group.  
"Does Alexa know about that?" Keith asked.  
"About what?" Hastings asked.  
"Cain."  
"I informed her of the details personally, dear, but I haven't seen her since before you, her, and Mr Thorndyke left for the Hippowdon Temple," Erma replied.  
"Okay, I'll go and find her then," Keith said as he ran out of the room. Buizel clung to his shoulder, clearly not wanting to fall off. Erma looked at him worriedly as the doors closed.  
"Was there something else?" Hastings asked.  
"Yes, but I promised I wouldn't say a word," Erma nodded. "She specifically requested that nobody tells him; she wants him to know about it from her directly."  
"Oh, shoot! I forgot to tell Keith about the wedding invite we've received on his behalf!" Hastings exclaimed.  
"Don't worry, Prof, he'll find out one way or another," Sven laughed.

_Elsewhere..._

"So, there's gonna be a wedding?" Crawford asked with intrigue. Barlow folded his arms as he looked towards the interested Ranger.  
"I've just finished reporting what Professor Hastings told me, and the thing that interests you the most is the wedding?"  
"I'm glad that little twerp's gone down an' all, boss, I'm just more focused on the positive, that's all." Barlow smiled.  
"Can't argue with that."  
"Do we know who's getting married?" Luana asked. She held her now fully recovered Buneary in her arms.  
"Strangely, no, we don't; the invite didn't say a thing about it," Barlow replied. "I just know that it's gonna take place tomorrow," he added as Keith and Buizel entered the base.  
"What's gonna take place tomorrow?" he asked. All three Area Rangers smiled at him.  
"Oh, there's gonna be a wedding tomorrow," Luana replied.  
"Is it yours?" Crawford asked playfully. "The invite didn't say."  
"No, and, if it was, you'd know," Keith said, laughing nervously. "Speaking of which, you haven't seen Alexa anywhere, have you? Her mobile's off and I can't find her anywhere."  
"Nope, haven't seen her since yesterday," Barlow replied.  
"I haven't seen her in, like, forever," Luana added. "Hope she's okay; I heard she go hurt the other day."  
"Isn't that why she's leaving the day after tomorrow?" Crawford questioned. Keith suddenly felt as though he had been stabbed in the back.  
"What...?"  
"Crawford, shut up...!"  
"Yeah, the Thorndyke's are going back to Johto after the wedding, and Alexa's going with them," Crawford explained just as Alexa herself, with a crutch in one hand, entered the base.  
"Crawford!" All four Rangers spotted her by the door. "I told you not to say anything!" Keith confronted her.  
"You told them not to say anything?!" he asked accusingly.  
"I wanted you to find out from me!" Alexa explained desperately. "I've been trying to find you after I left the hospital for Dad's-"  
"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?! Why did you let me find out from someone else?!" Keith asked with distraught.  
"How was I supposed to know Crawford was gonna grass me up?! Like I said, I wanted you to-"

_BUMP!_

"Keith!" Alexa exclaimed, but the devastated Top Ranger had already ran out of the base, bumping into Alexa's shoulder along the way. As Buizel gave chase, Alexa glared at Crawford.  
"Thanks a lot," she said spitefully before leaving the base. Barlow and Luana glared at Crawford as well.  
"What?"  
"You know what."

Alexa returned to the house and closed the door once Phoenix had entered the living room. She approached Hayden and handed the crutch over to him.  
"Here."  
"What's wrong?" Hayden asked worriedly.  
"Keith knows," Alexa sighed.  
_Oh, good!_  
"Not from me. From Crawford."  
_Oh, bad..._  
"I don't think he meant to say anything, sweetie, it probably just slipped out," Lily said reassuringly as Alexa slumped down on one of the sofas. Phoenix sat next to her, concerned for his oldest friend.  
"I don't doubt that. But Keith didn't take it too well," Alexa said. "Oh, who am I kidding..? He was devastated! He's really upset right now. I just don't know if it's with me or with the fact that we're all going back to Johto after this mystery wedding tomorrow."  
"I don't think he's upset with you, sis; I just think it's because of the fact that it came from Crawford that upset him," Keenan suggested. Worried about Alexa, Ryder closed his eyes. His aura sensors raised a little.  
"I wish I hadn't said anything to Barlow now. I'm not even sure if Keith wants to see me again..!"  
"Now you're just exaggerating," Lily sighed as she approached Alexa. She sat on one armrest and smiled at her. "Listen, I just think that Keith needs to hear the full story, that's all; that you're coming home with us for some rest."  
"Away from him, he might assume," Alexa sighed.  
"Lexie, if you tell him what you told us, I'm sure he'll understand," Hayden smiled. Alexa smiled feebly at her father.  
"Thanks, Dad."  
_Alex? Keith's on a hill next to the beach,_ Ryder said, opening his eyes.  
"Breeze Hill. Right, I need to talk to him," Alexa said as she shot up from the sofa. "Thanks!"  
"Rhrrgh!" Phoenix stood up quickly and followed Alexa out of the house.

Keith stood on the Breeze Hill, overlooking the beautiful scenery beneath him; it was a tranquil view of the ocean and cliff sides, with various mountains in the distance, presumably near the Hia Valley. Buizel looked up at Keith worriedly; he hadn't said a single word since they arrived. He just stared at the horizon, not saying a thing. Buizel, knowing he could do very little to cheer Keith up, slowly walked away from him, leaving him in peace. Buizel didn't go very far; he only went as far as the Breeze Hill signpost. As Keith stared at the scene, thoughts and memories of him and Alexa flooded his mind. He remembered the times he shared with the Johto-born girl, both good and bad. The more he thought about those memories, the sadder he became. Eventually, he covered his eyes with one hand...and began to cry.

"Keith!"

"Huh?" Keith heard Alexa's voice, but he refused to turn around. Phoenix touched down on the hill and allowed Alexa to climb down from his back.  
"Thanks, Phoenix. Keep Buizel company, will you?"  
"Rhrrgh," Phoenix complied as he walked back down the steps. Alexa cautiously walked towards Keith.  
"Keith, please! Let me explain," Alexa pleaded.  
"What's to explain? You're leaving!" Keith exclaimed sadly. Alexa was overwhelmed by his sadness.  
"It's not what you think!"  
"So Crawford was lying?" Keith asked sarcastically.  
"No, he just doesn't know the full story," Alexa said timidly.  
"So what IS the full story?!" Keith shouted. Alexa sighed.  
"I'm not suspended anymore," she began. "Because of what Dad and I did in the desert, the Professor's cut my suspension short...but he's also given me sick leave. I...I told him how I felt during the confrontation and he doesn't believe me coming back on duty would be a good idea yet, hence the sick leave. Mum and Dad are going to go back to Violet City the day after tomorrow, and...I asked them if I could join them for a few weeks..."  
"Why...?"  
"Because I need the time away from this place," Alexa continued. "Almia hasn't been kind to me...the Hippowdon Temple especially. I-I mean...the first time I went there, I found out you were Dim Sun's hostage...and then there's Palkia... Dialga... Cain..! On top of what Team Dim Sun and Kincaid have done, it's been too much for me as of late..." Keith turned around slightly to face Alexa. She felt even more guilty, having spotted Keith's tears.  
"Why didn't you say anything to me..? I could've helped you..!"  
"...I don't know why I didn't..."  
"So you're just going to abandon me? Just like that?"  
"No! I'm not abandoning you! I did want you to find out from me rather than from someone else, but I'd never abandon you!" Alexa cried. She walked over to Keith and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I just need to get away from Almia for a while. But as soon as I feel better, I'll come back. I promise."  
"Do you mean that...?" Alexa smiled warmly.  
"Sincerely." Keith looked away from her slightly as his tears fell down his face. "Come here..." Alexa walked closer to him and pulled him gently into a sweet embrace. Keith held onto her. He tried not to cry, but his tears wouldn't stop flowing.  
"I'm sorry..." he apologised.  
"It's my fault; I shouldn't have said anything to anyone other than you," Alexa said sweetly. "But no matter how cruel Almia's been to me, you're the best thing about this place. I love you so much..." Keith found it very hard not to cry after Alexa's loving words. They released their cuddle delicately and looked at one another eye to eye. Keith managed to give Alexa a small sweet smile.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Keith and Alexa looked towards Barlow in confusion as he approached them. Keith, not wanting Barlow to see him upset, looked away from him.  
"You all right? I found Buizel with a Charizard down there and-"  
"It's fine, honest. The Charizard's with me," Alexa smiled.  
"Oh. There's been an update about the wedding; it's going to be at Altru Park."  
"Thanks, Barlow," Alexa said kindly.  
"I'll just...I'll leave you alone." With that, Barlow walked away from the hill, passing Phoenix and Buizel along the way.  
"He's gone," Alexa said softly. Keith faced her again; his tears were still in his eyes, and he looked somewhat ashamed of himself.  
"Sorry..."  
"Hey, you didn't want Barlow to see you so upset. That's fine. But you have to remember that Barlow had a few of those after Operation Brighton," Alexa laughed as she gently wiped Keith's tears from his eyes.  
"But he was happy when he-"  
"Hey. Listen to me, mister, crying doesn't make you any less of a man. It shows that you have feelings," Alexa said kindly. "Not everyone can be brave all the time." Keith smiled at her.  
"Yeah. Sorry about that."  
"No worries. And about me leaving Almia? It's just for R&amp;R, that's all. I'm only a phone call away if you need me."  
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Kitten. I assumed the worst when I heard that you were leaving, I didn't even begin to think that you needed to. That's why I-" Keith was cut off by a sneaky peck on the lips from Alexa, who smiled warmly at him.  
"It's fine. Don't worry about it, okay?"  
"I'll try," Keith laughed.  
"Today and tomorrow are my last days here. Want to spend them together?"  
"As if you needed to ask," Keith smiled. He and Alexa walked towards their Pokémon, hand in hand.

_24 hours later..._

Keith and Buizel approached the centre of Altru Park. There was a red carpet leading to the centre stage, which was decorated to resemble that of a church alter. Barlow, Crawford, Luana, Hastings, Lily, Hayden, Keenan and Ollie's mother were there, and he was surprised to see that the wedding was for Elaine and Ollie himself. Elaine was dressed in a beautiful pink wedding dress and held a vividly fresh bouquet. Ollie was dressed in a simple, yet smart, blue tuxedo. Keith spotted Lily and Luana having a conversation between them.  
"Aw, that's so sweet!" Luana said happily.  
"I know I didn't see it coming," Lily laughed. "We had our wedding outside, in front of the Bell Tower in Mahogany Town. It was so beautiful, the autumn foliage made the whole thing picture perfect." Keith approached Barlow, who was talking to Keenan.  
"Have you seen Alexa anywhere? I thought she'd be here by now."  
"You know that she was going to meet us here, right?" Keenan questioned.  
"Yeah, but I thought she'd be here before me."  
"She'll be here, don't fret," Barlow smiled.

Hastings looked around; all of Hayden, Lily and Keenan's Pokémon were out of their Poké Balls for the day, each of them doing their own thing. He looked back at Hayden, Lily and Keenan themselves. Hayden was dressed in a lavender shirt and teal jeans, but Hastings noticed the crutch Alexa had found for him the day before. Lily was dressed in her usual blouse and skirt combo, and Keenan was dressed in his T-shirt and shorts, which made his shin bandage clearly visible. He smiled; he was impressed at the recovery everyone made after Cain's path of destruction.

"RHRRRRGH!"

Everyone turned their attention to the incoming Phoenix; more specifically, the waving Ryder on his back.  
_Hello!_  
Phoenix touched down on the carpet and Ryder jumped off. Alexa released Layla, Kadia, Ronan and Nando from their Poké Balls before she hopped off of Phoenix's back. As she and Ryder approached her, while the other Pokémon scattered, Keith instantly noticed Alexa's attire; a pale red tunic, black leggings, white socks and black pumps. He also noticed the turquoise bow headband on her head.  
"Sorry I'm late, everyone, I wanted to look presentable. Had a bit of a bed-head this morning." Barlow laughed.  
"Alex, Almia weddings are casual! You don't need to dress fancy!"  
"So I was told, yeah, I just wanted to make an effort." Keith smiled at her.  
"You look beautiful." Alexa smiled back at him.  
"Thanks."

"All right, now that everyone's here, I think we can begin," Barlow said, somewhat enthusiastically. Keith gently took Alexa's hand and escorted her to the audience. Ryder followed Alexa, while the Pokémon around the outside watched from their comfortable positions. Ruby was floating next to her father, Malik, with a little flower in her hair.  
"Er...a-hem...L-Laddies and generals...no, wait..."  
Ryder suddenly broke out in hysterical laughter. He was laughing so hard, he fell to the floor and tears began to form in his eyes. Alexa sighed, despite her smile, and bent down to the extremely amused Lucario.  
"Take it easy, Ryder."  
_A-and I thought the Capture Loopy-Looper was hilarious...!_  
"Deep breaths, baby..." Ryder tried to breathe deeply, but couldn't stop laughing so easily. "Listen, why don't you sit with Layla, okay?"  
_Y-yeah, I-I'll do that,_ Ryder agreed breathlessly as he approached the shiny white and blue Zangoose. Alexa stood up and looked at Barlow.  
"Sorry about that."  
"It's fine," Barlow smiled. "Right, from the top; ladies, gentlemen and Pokémon..."  
_Thank you._  
"Please allow me to introduce today's bride and groom. The bride; Almia's greatest mechanic, Elaine! And the groom; Ollie, a nice guy who knows the meaning of gratitude! Now, if you can all remain quiet for a moment; it's my understanding that both the bride and groom wish to say something. First, Ollie, the groom."  
"T-thanks. I-I'm Ollie, a-as you know...gosh this is awkward... T-Thank you for coming to our wedding. We're also sorry for keeping it a secret from you; we wanted it to be a surprise," Ollie said.  
"I'll say it was a surprise; I didn't even know you two were even dating to begin with!" Keith laughed.  
"Yeah, you kept that one quiet!" Alexa smiled. "Even though I had an inkling." Ollie laughed, but then sighed.  
"There's something I've realised. If I hadn't met everyone in the forest that day, I would have followed the same path as the Dim Sun goons. So I'm..." Ollie looked at Elaine briefly before facing his audience again. "I'm grateful to everyone at the Ranger Base...to Alex, who believed that I wasn't a criminal from the start...to Keith, for helping me with my wish to repair the forest...and...I'm especially grateful to Elaine, the love of my life, for being there for me when I was unsure about what to do with myself."  
"Ollie's not the type to knowingly become a criminal," Elaine began. "He only took the job he did because someone took advantage of his insecurity."  
_And we know who that was, don't we, Alex?_ Ryder whispered. Alexa nodded in response.  
"After that, Ollie's helped me and the Ranger Base in so many ways. I'm..." Elaine looked at Ollie briefly before facing her audience again. "I'm sincerely grateful for what he's done...and I'm most grateful to him for being such and amazing person to be with. I don't know where I'd be without him."  
"I concur," Barlow smiled. "Two people who are grateful of each other...they're an ideal couple." Ryder grinned; he knew of another couple who were grateful of each other.  
"Oh?!" Elaine suddenly felt her bouquet moving, much to everyone's astonishment and or confusion.

"SHAYMIIII!"

The little hedgehog Pokémon hopped out of Elaine's arms and landed in front of her feet on the stage.  
"Shaymiiii!"  
"What in the-?"  
"Awwwwwww, it's so cute!" Alexa almost squealed. "It's a Shaymin!"  
_Rrrrrrrrrrr!_ Ryder looked towards the bridge, growling angrily. Keith looked towards him, confused.  
"What're you doing?" he asked. Ryder stopped growling and looked at Keith.  
_What? I thought some Team Dim Sun clowns were gonna arrive to try and take Shaymin,_ he explained. Layla, although smiling, rolled her eyes.  
"What kind of stupid plan is that?" Alexa asked mockingly. "Even by Dim Sun stantards it's stupid; Shaymin's main power is restoring polluted land to their former glories and better."  
"In addition, Shaymin is the Gratitude Pokémon," Hastings added. "And, as that would suggest, Shaymin senses the gratitude in others." Hayden smiled at Ollie and Elaine.  
"And the little guy has its eyes on you two."  
"Shaymii!" Shaymin happily ran around the soon-to-be-married couple.  
"Awwwwwww, I can't get over how adorable it is!" Alexa exclaimed happily.  
"So you know Shaymin's legend?" Keith questioned.  
"I wouldn't call Shaymin a legendary Pokémon; it's been spoken of mainly in Floaroma Town's history, but it's actually one of the rarest Pokémon out there. But it's just so cute!"  
"Shaymiiiii!" As Shaymin ran around Ollie and Elaine, it released a burst of flower petals from its tiny little body.  
"What in the-?"  
"Oh wow! A flower shower!" Crawford exclaimed happily.

_FLASH!_

A flash of blinding white light struck the entire park. As soon as it faded, the whole area was covered in vividly coloured and fresh flowers as far as the eye could see. One of those flowers ended up on Nando's nose. Ronan laughed as Nando took the flower off of his nose and looked at it. Ronan stopped laughing and smiled at the content Nidoking, who was admiring the flower.  
"Oh, wow...! Look at them all!" Elaine said with overwhelming joy.  
"It's so beautiful," Ollie agreed.  
"This must be Shaymin's gift for the two of you," Crawford assumed. Luana looked around.  
"Huh? Shaymin's gone."  
"Perhaps another new outbreak of gratitude has emerged in Almia? Gratitude that would make Shaymin act," Hastings mused.  
"...thank you, Shaymin," Ollie said quietly.  
"I'll never forget this day," Elaine said happily.  
"Trust me, sweetheart, you won't," Lily smiled, holding onto her husband's free arm.  
"Oh, Lily, I hope they'll be as happy as you and Hayden are!" Luana said joyously.  
"They can be." Lily looked at the newly-weds. "Keep treasuring each other and you'll be fine."  
"Thanks, Mrs Thorndyke," Ollie smiled.  
"Okay, then, there's only one thing to say right now," Barlow smiled. He looked towards Ollie. "Ollie? You may kiss the bride; congratulations."  
Everyone, bar Keith and Alexa but including the Pokemon, cheered joyously as the bride and groom shared a romantic kiss at the alter. The female Pokémon were all dangerously close to tears, so the male Pokémon had to help them keep their bearings. Keith and Alexa watched Ollie and Elaine.  
"They do look great together," Keith smiled.  
"Yeah," Alexa agreed. She and Keith faced each other, eye to eye.  
"...I am going to miss you, you know. It's going to be hard to say goodbye," Keith said sadly.  
"Same here. But I'll be back; after everything we've been through together, just try keeping me away from you." Keith smiled.  
"Thanks."  
"No...thank YOU. For making yourself heard in school," Alexa said quietly.  
"...thank you...for giving me the chance. To be your friend." Alexa laughed.  
"Like I was going to pass it up?" Keith laughed.  
"Guess not." Keith lost his smile. "But it's going to be so hard to say goodbye...!"  
"Then don't."  
"Huh?" Alexa gave Keith a truly loving smile.  
"It's not goodbye...it's...see you later..."  
Keith gently pulled Alexa close to him as they began to share a tender kiss. Ryder and Layla smiled at their trainer and her love. Ryder, however, spotted Shaymin looking up happily at the pair from next to Keith's ankle. Ryder smiled warmly.

_To be concluded..._


	43. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Cain**

Cain was found guilty of Pokémon homicide at Sinnoh Crown Court. He was sentenced to 5 years minimum in Unova Penitentiary, a maximum security prison situated south-west of Driftveil City. He was also banned from training Pokémon until further notice and was stripped of his Pokémon Trainers' license as a result.

Cain's Pokémon were all sent to a special shelter, awaiting their fates. The decision as to whether or not they're destined for euthanasia has still not reached a conclusion. His Empoleon, meanwhile, remains wild and free.

**Team Dim Sun**

Kincaid, Ice, Heath and Lavana were all charged for kidnapping on four counts and GBH among similar charges Wyatt Hall faced. Kincaid pleaded insanity whilst the Sinis Trio all pleaded guilty. Ice, Heath and Lavana were sentenced to 2 years minimum at Sevii State Prison on Chrono Island. Kincaid was sentenced just the same, but is also undergoing psychiatric treatment.

**Ollie &amp; Elaine**

The newly-weds enjoyed a romantic honeymoon in Lilycove City. The pair returned two weeks later; Elaine returned to her duties as a mechanic, while Ollie is studying to become a Pokémon Ranger, inspired by the knowledge that age doesn't matter.

**The Ranger Union**

Sven and Wendy fully recovered from their wounds and returned to their duties. Since Cain's sentencing, the region of Almia has not suffered from any major incidences, nor have they had reports of any serious criminal activity from other regions; all is peaceful.

Keith, however, grew slightly distant day by day in light of Alexa's absence. While he has still shown enthusiasm for his work, his achievements have been the last thing on his mind since Alexa left. It had been almost six weeks since she left...

_One day..._

"Capture complete," Keith said unenthusiastically as he recalled his capture disc back into his styler. The wild Charizard, Salamence and Flygon sat there casually as Keith left the room. Buizel, who had matured in the past few weeks, followed him.

Keith descended down the large escalator and made his way to the main foyer, where Sven and Erma were waiting to greet him. Keith approached them.  
"Hey, buddy, congrats on clearing the Capture Arena!" Sven said happily. "I heard some hotshot cleared it, but I didn't think that was you! Kudos to you!"  
"Here." Erma took Keith's styler momentarily and placed a small ribbon-like mark on it. "This is to commemorate you having cleared the arena. You should be proud of yourself, dear."  
"I'm not," Keith said bluntly as he walked away. Erma and Sven watched him leave. Sven was confused.  
"What's eating him? Clearing the capture arena is a huge deal! And he's the first to have done so, no less!"  
"I suspect Keith has something more important to think about," Erma assumed.

The evening was closing in on Almia by the time Keith made his way to the Pledge Stone. The former Team Dim Sun vessel that crashed into the school's pier had finally been removed, but the pier was still missing. Buizel looked up at Keith worriedly.  
"Bui?"  
"Sorry, buddy...I just...I can't stop thinking about her," Keith said sadly as he held his dog tags in his palm. "I know she needed the break...I-I just...I miss her..."

_FWING!_

"Huh?" Keith spotted a capture disc circling around him. He tried to follow the capture disc as it circled him, but doing so only served to make him dizzy. He snapped out of his dizzy state when he heard a familiar laugh.  
"You weren't supposed to follow it, silly!"

Keith looked at the source of the voice; standing there, in front of him, in full uniform, was the very person Keith had wished to see for the longest time.  
"...Alexa..."  
"Sorry I'm late in coming back," Alexa apologised. "I was ready to come back after two weeks, but then I had a chest infection and that stirred up something fierce..."

_BUMP!_

"OOF!" Alexa suddenly found herself on the floor, with an extremely ecstatic Keith holding onto her.  
"Oh, man, I'm just so happy to see you again!" Keith rejoiced. "And in uniform!"  
"Yeah, well, like I said, a chest infection kept me from coming back when I wanted to," Alexa chuckled. "I thought you knew; Dad called the Ranger Union to tell them about it." Keith moved away from Alexa to look down at her.  
"They only told me you weren't ready to come back yet," he replied. "But anyway, that doesn't matter now, I just missed you so much!"  
"We've spoken every day for the first two weeks," Alexa laughed.  
"But not for the few weeks after that," Keith said.  
"Chest infection; couldn't talk that well without needing, like, a gallon of air," Alexa explained. "But I'm okay now; no more chest infection."  
"And on the mental side?"  
"Stable," Alexa smiled. "Now I just hope that I won't need another case of R&amp;R any time soon." Keith smiled lovingly at her.  
"Good."

Buizel looked away, respecting their privacy, as Keith and Alexa shared a tender, yet somewhat passionate kiss right then and there; on the grass, in front of the Pledge Stone.

_~ Fin._


End file.
